Underneath the smile, the armor and the ego of ever man, I believe are the battle wounds of life. A mix of moments that have seemed minor or inconsequential… horrible or even fatal. From a paper cut or scrape to a gaping stab wound to the soul, I believe every man has at least one such moment. And every wound becomes the very fabric of who we are and how we live. They are after all a by-product of life, oftentimes the inevitable scars of wounds that we lug around from life stage to life stage.
The reality is we carry these battle wounds for so long we almost forget they’re there. And our “normal” is at times dysfunctional. We cope, we say “that’s how it’s always been.” We find busy lives, noble causes and popular hobbies to hide behind and we become expert “stuffers”. Bury them away, hide them away, tuck them away so they never see the light of day. While we might not have to deal with them, every relationship, every job, every interaction, everyone else….deals with them. They are responsible for the wounds we are unwilling to address or unknowingly carry.
Blinded by our dysfunction, oblivious to the possibilities of life to the fullest, we get comfortable. We get by. We give up the pursuit of something far better.
A man who never peels back the dirty bandages and investigates the wounds of his life, who never fully opens up all the doors to his Savior…is a dangerous man.
Put me in the front-lines of life with a man on my left who has come face to face with his own dark valleys and a man on my right who refuses to pull back the layers. I’ll take the man on my left every time. He has a greater sense of who he is, what his weaknesses are, why he does the things he does and how his history has shaped him but not defined him. This man has found redemptive healing that only the Maker can provide.
May you do the painful work of wading through your past and open the doors to discover a life to the fullest. May you not be lulled into believing the lies of your past, present and future circumstances. Through the work of your Savior, may you eventually become someone who is no longer a dangerous man.
This Life Journey 