Scars

A few years ago, on a hot summer day, a little boy decided to go swimming in the lake behind his house.

In a hurry to dive into the fresh water, he ran and left his shoes, socks and shirt behind… he jumped without thinking into the lake, not noticing the alligator that left the lake shore and also entered the water.

His mother, at home, watching him through the window, saw the tragedy almost imminent, her son and the alligator were getting closer and closer to each other.

In absolute panic, without thinking she ran to the lake, screaming to get her son’s attention, in front of the tragedy that was about to happen…

Hearing his mother’s voice, the frightened boy quickly changed direction and began to swim back to meet his mother.

The mother jumped into the river and caught up with her son… But, it was too late…

The alligator was faster and reached the boy first. The mother grabbed her son by the arms while the alligator snapped at his feet… an intense struggle between the two began there.

The animal was much stronger, but the mother loved her son so much, and she struggled incredibly not to let the alligator tear him apart. Almost losing strength, but not ceasing to fight, the mother disputed with the alligator.

A hunter passing through the area heard his mother’s cries in tears. Frightened and not understanding anything, he ran to meet the voice that begged for help. Arriving at the edge of the lake he saw the struggle of the mother who was trying to save her son and without thinking too much the man took his gun, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the boy survived. His feet had been lacerated, and were badly bruised, on his arms, deep marks where his mother’s nails had been dug in in the immense effort to save him.

A newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma asked him if he could show his scars.

The boy raised his feet, and showed the scars that the alligator had left him.

And then, with pride, he told the reporter:

— ‘But look at my arms, I have big scars on my arms too. They’re here because my mom didn’t let go of me.”

"Hebrews 13?5 says: “I will never leave you, and I will never abandon you.”

REFLECTION:

Many of us can identify with this little boy. We also have a lot of scars. Not those left by an alligator attack, or anything that dramatic.

But the scars from a painful past. Some of those scars are ugly and cause deep pain. But some of those wounds are marks left because JEHOVAH refused to let us go…

And while you struggled, He was holding you back! If today’s times are difficult, perhaps part of the wounds that are causing pain are those that JEHOVAH left behind, when “digging his nails” into his IMMENSE LOVE did not let you go.

Remember: part of these wounds are also due to your inattention. Without thinking too much, he may have immersed himself in the world, unaware of the “devourer” that is always on the prowl.

However, always remember that even in the midst of so many fights will never abandon you while you are also fighting! JEHOVAH will certainly do whatever it takes not to lose you, although for that he will need to leave some scars…

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