The Scars of My Past

If you know me or have met me you have probably noticed that I have a tattoo on my chest.  Actually, I have a rather large tattoo bat emblazoned across my chest.  The "battoo" (as I am fond of calling it) comes from another lifetime, a part of my life that is so distant that I seem to recall reading about it in a book and that the life belonged to someone else, not me. 

Me & My Silly Husband & the Bat

Alas, when I look in the mirror in the mornings, the bat looks back.  He has not moved over the last 11 years.  His eye is still fixed unseeing on the same object that he has been looking at for quite some time.  And there are days when I see him and I hate him.  I resent the time that brought such a scar to my life.  I loathe the reminder of who I was.

On these days, Satan is whispering fiercely and steadily into my ear, "Look who you are, Michelle.  Look at your life.  No one can change who you are.  Did you think you could really change?"

If I'm not careful, I'll buy these lies of the enemy, these subtle words so carefully crafted and made personal for me.  If left to stand on my own I will fall prey to these horrible things that Satan says. 

Thank God, though, that He sent the cavalry in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.  I am not left to my own.  And God loves me enough to have written His truths down for me so that I can combat the enemies lies.  The scripture below is one that I cling to regularly: 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified Bible) Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

God has transformed me into a new creature and He calls me His daughter.  I am His own.  I am different than that girl that sat in a tattoo chair a long time ago. And God, in all of His goodness and wisdom, has taken the battoo and made it something beautiful.  Romans 8:28 (NLT) tells us, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

The battoo has made me easy to relate to for teenagers.  It has made other adults feel at ease because they see it and see that no one around me judges me because of it; they are possibly more comfortable with the scars of their own past.  Little children are curious and want to ask questions.  My bat opens conversations with strangers when they comment on it. 

I'll take the scars of my past and offer them up to Jesus every day.  He can use them to do great things!