My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
PSALM 73:26
Back in the day, trails, forest roads, and boundary lines were often marked by blazed trees, at least at first. Formal signs took time, but it took just a few strokes of an ax by a skilled axman to blaze a tree. First, he would make a horizontal cut through the bark at about shoulder height, into the outer layer of wood, called the cambium layer. Then higher on the trunk, he would make a downward cut slightly angled into the tree. Where the second cut met the first one, an outward thrust of the axe blade popped off the bark and a thin piece of the cambium. Sap oozed out and formed a protective covering. The blaze would heal as the tree grew, but the scar could be seen for many years, clearly marking the trail or the boundary line.
We have scars too, don’t we? Some are on the outside, reminding us of an injury or a surgeon’s work. Other scars are internal, in our minds, hearts, or spirits. Scars remind us that God offers us the strength to recover. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16).
God also equips us to help others heal as we have healed. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). Whether we’re on a trail in the woods or navigating life’s challenges, it’s heartening to know that others have gone before us and can show us the way.