Scars of Silver, Scars of Gold: Brokenness Made Beautiful

By Michael L. Wiltcher

I closed my eyes tightly trying block out the throbbing pain. It was no use. I couldn’t.
Lying face down in the dirt, humiliation swept over me in relentless waves. I touched my lip with a finger and could see through the tears that my lip was bleeding. Of course, the wound hurt. But the laceration from the bully’s fist not nearly as painful as was the laughter and taunts of those who watched my plight. It was scene repeated far too often in my school days. Far too often.
Bullying among students was ignored by teachers in those days. I can’t say why, but it was. Only in recent days has the issue be brought into the public spotlight. And while sympathy for victims of bullying has been offered, little attention has been given to the emotional damaged that the victim suffers. Or the length of time that emotional wounds take to heal—if those wounds do heal. In some victims, the emotional wounds never heal.
The cut I knew would heal in a few days. What I did not know was how deep the emotional wounds went. Nor did I know that it would take decades for the emotional wounds to heal. And that these emotional wounds would leave scars that would be noticeable to everyone.
In school we are taught how to read, write, and to work complex math problems. We are taught history, geography, and science. But there are no classes on how to deal with the frequent clashes between people, both inadvertent and those that come with great deliberation.
Nor does schools have classes that teach us how to deal with the emotional damage that comes with such clashes. Or classes that teach us how to pick up the pieces of a broken shattered life and put the pieces back together without leaving tell-tale scars that points back to a time of brokenness.
Which brings me to the point and purpose of this book.
Perhaps what we have been taught about brokenness has been terribly wrong. And that the secret of healing, complete healing, is not in our efforts to hide our pain, but to use our wounds to reach for higher levels of well-being. To be able to achieve goals that are never accessible to those who have never been wounded.
Jocelyn Soriano once said, “It is our wounds that create in us a desire to reach for miracles. The fulfillment of such miracles depends on whether we let our wounds pull us down or lift us up towards our dreams.”
Please underline the phrase, “let our wounds pull us down or lift us up toward our dreams.” Simplifying Jocelyn’s statement to its simplest terms, you come up with a profound truth: “Wounds are inevitable. Misery is an option...as is our healing.”
Too often we try to hide our scars. After all, our culture celebrates perfection and strength as much as it detests perceived flaws and weaknesses.
Such rationale, I have found, is totally inaccurate. It takes great strength and courage to pick up the pieces of a broken life and pursue the arduous task of healing. Kahlil Gibran correctly sated, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
Rather than to be embarrassed and hide our scars, I have found that it is important to take pride in them. To allow God to highlight each scar with silver or with gold and to display them for all the world to see. For as Steve Goodier said, “My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to mind something else, too. They remind me that the damage life has inflicted on me has left me stronger and more resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face the present.”
Scribble down these words and place them on your refrigerator door: Wounds are inevitable. Misery is an option...as is our healing.”
And join me as I share with you in Scars of Silver, Scars of Gold the stories like mine who have been broken by life and have become testimonies of God’s healing grace.

Michael L. Wiltcher

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael L. Wiltcher
• Release date: Nov 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005104061

Book preview

Scars of Silver Scars of Gold: Brokenness Made Beautiful

Michael L. Wiltcher

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2019 Michael L. Wiltcher

(all rights reserved)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Forward

The Beauty of Scars

Introduction

A Broken Maiden

A Broken Mother

A Broken Miser

A Broken Prophet

A Broken Mind

A Broken King

A Broken Weapon of War

A Broken Soldier

Are You Smarter Than a Monkey?

An Attitude Shift

A Change of Heart

Replacing Pain with Purpose

More Books By Michael L. Wiltcher

Acknowledgements

Cover Page designed by Michaela Causey

Edited by Derinda Raines Darilek

Bible References

Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the KING JAMES VERSION (KJV): KING JAMES VERSION, public domain.

Bible in Basic English Scripture quotations marked (BBE) are taken from the 1949/1964 BIBLE IN BASIC ENGLISH, public domain.

Scriptures marked NKJV are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION (NKJV): Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION®. Copyright© 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scriptures marked TM are taken from the THE MESSAGE: THE BIBLE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH (TM): Scripture taken from THE MESSAGE: THE BIBLE IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH, copyright©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group

Scripture taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan.

Scripture quotations in this publication from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Scriptures used from NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved. Used by Permission

Scriptures from The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version® (EHV ®) © 2017 The Wartburg Project used by permission

Scripture quotations marked NLV are taken from the New Life Version, copyright © 1969 and 2003. Used by permission of Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683. All rights reserved.

Forward

by M. R. Reagan

Pastor of Strong Tower of Morton, Mississippi

and Common Ground of Delhi, Louisiana

From my first introduction to the man behind these words, I knew that his humility and fervor for God was a combination for revelation and elevation in God’s Kingdom. The extensive commitment of his compassionate pastoral care for humanity shows in this book on an unprecedented level.

If I could express what I feel is the essence of the author, pastor, father, husband, grandfather and friend, Michael L. Wiltcher, I would be forced to use this book to share who he is to anyone whose path crosses his. There is no way to step into his heart and not feel the tremendous depth of inclusion and God-birthed compassion.

Upon reading and absorbing this book, you will come out on the other side with an understanding that all things are working in our favor as well as bringing us to a place of choice in becoming better or bitter. After reading I now know that no one can put their eyes and heart on these words and walk away unchanged. You will be healed if healing is needed. You will be wiser if wisdom is needed. You will be stronger if strength is needed. This read will heighten your spiritual senses. It will also point as well as invite you to come to a place where God lives.

Tanya and I thank God for you!

M. R. Reagan

Dear Eli, Creede, Asher, and Judah

I wrote this book with you in mind. Not that you would find it applicable at your present age. It is for later when you have reached adulthood. For that period when the innocence of childhood has faded, and you have discovered that life’s twists and turns is not always fair. Life, unfortunately, can leave you bruised and wounded. And, if we are not careful, it can leave us angry and embittered. Worse, it can make us distrustful. It can cause us to live and relive the wounds of the past, instead of enjoying the present, and grasping for a better future.

Each of you are to me a unique and highly treasured gift of God. You each have brought immeasurable sunshine to a life that has seen its fair share of dark days. Should I attempt to write of the joy each of you have given me, I would be forced to rob this world of all its ink, and to scrounge every scrap of paper to do so.

Always remember that life is made up of the choices you make, whether good or bad. And if you wish to have a better life, then you must learn how to make better choices. Wise choices, that will avoid the pitfalls and detours that have destroyed many.

The wisest choice of all that you can make is to surrender your life to Christ, and to follow Him daily, no matter what life throws at you. And the second choice is just as necessary to you as the air you breathe. You must choose to continue to follow Him at all costs. Even during those dark days when you do not understand the path that He is leading you to travel.

I am so very proud of each of you. And always know that I am always at the throne of God interceding on your behalf.

With the greatest affection

Pawpaw

Michael L. Wiltcher

The Beauty of Scars

There is something beautiful about all scars. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with. ~ Harry Crews

The scars you share become lighthouses for others who are headed to the same rocks as you hit. ~ (unknown)

The scar means that I was stronger than what tried to hurt me. ~ Anias Nin

Be proud of your scars. Each one holds a lifetime of lessons. ~ (unknown)

A scar does not form on the dead. My scar means that I have survived. ~ Chris Cleave

Scars remind us daily of our victories over pain. They remind us of our progress and how far we have come in our healing journey. ~ (mlw)

Never be ashamed of the scars that life has left you. A scar means that the hurt is over, the wound has closed, you endured the pain, and that God has healed you. ~ (unknown)

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. ~ Kahlil Gibran

My scars show pain and suffering, but they also show my will to survive. They're part of my history that'll always be there. ~ Cheryl Rainfield

Some people see scars, and it is wounding they remember. To me they are proof of the fact that there is healing. ~ Linda Hogan

I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion. ~ Yohji Yamamoto

The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars. ~ Bertolt Brecht

My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to mind something else, too. They remind me that the damage life has inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face the present. ~ Steve Goodier

He jests at scars that never felt a wound. ~ William Shakespeare

Scars show us where we have been, they do not dictate where we are going. ~ David Rossi

Scars are not a sign of weakness; they are signs of survival and endurance. ~ Rodney A. Winters

My scars tell a story. They are a reminder of times when life tried to break me but failed. They are markings of where the structure of my character was welded. ~ Steve Maraboli

This is what it means to be human. We are all just canvases for our scars. ~ Jodi Picoult

Life is not easy for anyone of us. We all have to fight many battles in our lifetime. You may not want to fight but you have to fight many fights. And you have to fight well and hard. And you will get many scars. Your scars are proof that you fought and survived. Your scars will become the stories for the next generation. Fight well and hard and be proud of your scars! ~ Avijet Das

Where you see scars, I see art Where you see flaws, I see incredible beauty.

Where you see failures, I see knowledge and growth.

Everything is perception ~ Melody Lee

I don't want to die without any scars. ~ Chuck Palahniuk

Scars. A sign that you had been hurt. A sign that you had healed. ~ Benjamin Alire Sáenz,

You become the stories for the next generation. Fight well and hard and be proud of your scars! ~ (Ibid.)

Introduction

Galatians 6:17b The Passion Translation

"…for I am carrying the very scars of our Lord Jesus in my body."

I must admit that her statement caught me off guard. Not that her criticism was delivered in a harsh manner, mind you. It was in fact delivered with the fullest measure of having my best interest at heart. Jackie, my cherished wife of more than 45 years, is always keeping a close eye on me to ensure that I look my very best and that I am communicating in a way that will maintain the utmost respect of those who hear me. No better life-partner could I have found should I have searched the earth twice over.

My sermon for that morning had gone quite well, I thought. I had poured out my heart while