Scars Of LIFE......

•   A friend shared this with me.....Thanks Chyna!  I SHARE it with YOU.

   

  SCARS OF LIFE
  
  Some years ago,
  
  on a hot summer day
  
  in South Florida ,
  
  a little boy decided to go
  
  for a swim in the old swimming
  
  hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into
  
  the cool water,
  
  he ran out the back door,
  
  leaving behind shoes, socks,
  
  and shirt as he went.
  
  
  
  He flew into the water,
  
  not realizing that as he swam
  
  toward the middle of the lake,
  
  an alligator was swimming toward the shore.
  
  
  
  His father, working in the yard,
  
  saw the two as they got closer and closer together.
  
  
  
  In utter fear,
  
  he ran toward the water,
  
  yelling to his son as loudly
  
  as he could.
  
  
  
  Hearing his voice,
  
  the little boy became alarmed
  
  and made a U-turn
  
  to swim to his father.
  
  It was too late.
  
  Just as he reached his father,
  
  the alligator reached him.
  
  
  
  From the dock,
  
  the father grabbed his little
  
  boy by the arms
  
  just as the alligator snatched his legs.
  
  That began an incredible
  
  tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the
  
  
  
  father,
  
  but the father was much
  
  too passionate to let go.
  
  
  
  A farmer happened to drive by,
  
  heard his screams,
  
  raced from his truck,
  
  took aim and shot the alligator.
  
  
  
  Remarkably, after weeks and weeks
  
  in the hospital,
  
  the little boy survived.
  
  His legs were extremely scarred
  
  by the vicious attack
  
  of the animal.
  
  
  
  And, on his arms,
  
  were deep scratches
  
  where his father's fingernails
  
  dug into his flesh in his effort
  
  to hang on to the son he loved.
  
  
  
  The newspaper reporter
  
  who interviewed the boy
  
  after the trauma,
  
  asked if he would
  
  show him his scars.
  
  The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with obvious pride,
  
  he said to the reporter,
  
  'But look at my arms.
  
  I have great scars
  
  on my arms, too.
  
  I have them because
  
  my Dad wouldn't let go.'
  
  
  
  You and I can identify
  
  with that little boy.
  
  We have scars, too.
  
  No, not from an alligator,
  
  but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars
  
  are unsightly and have
  
  caused us deep regret.
  
  But, some wounds,
  
  my friend,
  
  are because God has refused
  
  to let go.
  
  In the midst of your struggle, God's been there
  
  holding on to you.
  
  
  
  The Scripture teaches that
  
  God loves you.
  
  You are a child of God.
  
  God wants to protect you
  
  and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into
  
  dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The swimming hole of
  life
  
  is filled with peril -
  
  and we forget
  
  that the enemy is waiting
  
  to attack.
  
  That's when the tug-of-war begins
  
  - and if you have
  
  the scars of God's love
  
  on your arms,
  
  be very, very grateful.
  
  God did not and will not ever let you go.
  
  
  
  God has blessed you,
  
  so that you
  
  can be
  
  a blessing to others. You just never know
  
  where a person is in his/her life
  
  and what they are going through. Never judge another person's
  
  scars, because you don't know what they are going through or how they
  got those scars. Also, it is so important
  
  that we forward
  
  this message
  
  to someone else. Right now,
  
  someone needs to know that God
  
  loves them,and you love them,too. --enough to not let them go .
  
  
  
  
  
  ...love one another John 13:34b