Two weeks ago, I was harshly reminded that my motorcycle pipes are very, VERY hot after riding. Yep, I burned my leg.
Now, after almost a decade of riding, you’d think I know this. I DO know this. I NEVER ride in shorts or without my full gear. Short version is that after riding, I changed into shorts before moving the bike back into the garage. Then, at the same time, my wife Kim came home with our beloved dog who had just been the groomers. Our dog loves to jump into my arms the first time she sees me, so here she came. I picked her up and spun around to carry her inside…and that’s when my leg brushed up against the pipe.
Sigh. Well, luckily for me, it apparently burned through most of the nerve endings (or I don’t have any there) because it didn’t hurt all that bad. I put on aloe and prepared the healing process. Of course, by that evening it was very sore and skin was peeling off. Kim, who is a nurse, said it was at least second degree burns, and was about 3 inches long by 2 inches high. Thus began the process of every day having to put on a gigantic bandage over my calf.
For about 7 days, it slowly healed. Again, luckily, it didn’t really hurt that bad generally, just minor discomfort, but about three days ago something interesting began to happen. As the healing process continued, I started to notice easily that over a 24 hour time, the size of the wound shrunk. Visibly. To the naked eye.
I could see this because I still had tape residue where I had first put it. All of a sudden, I no longer needed the huge bandage, but could use a smaller 2×2 gauze square. Before long, the sore was about the size of a quarter. You could easily see the new skin growing back.
It’s still healing, getting better every day, but the wonder of the healing process reminded me of something. Healing happens every day….if you care for the wound.
Each of us carries around scars, some old, some new, over things that have transpired. The wound could be self-inflicted or could be at the hands of another. Sometimes its just a bad circumstance or a poor decision. Many times, its more in the mind than anything else. We are so often our own worse critics. I counsel students every day, and one of the key things I have to say to students who are struggling is that they need to turn their own self-talk from negative to positive. The world is harsh enough on its own without us piling on to ourself.
However, the good news is that no matter what has caused the wound, healing can occur every day. Sometimes it might not be obvious, with slow healing happening deep inside. Other times, though, if we care for the wound, healing can occur right before our very eyes. See, I didn’t just let my burn fester nor did I put something on it once. Each day it got covered with Neosporin and a new bandage. Each night, that bandage was replaced with a new one, with more medicine.
Each day you can put on salve to your wound. The Bible gives us several clues of how to do that well. Start with this urging from the apostle Paul, writing to the church in the Greek city of Philippi. He said “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Immediately after that, he reminded them of this promise: “I can do all this through Jesus who gives me strength.”
Remember what was said in the times before Jesus came, promises and encouragement like this: “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” And, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Or this, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”