The Scars of a Warrior

I watched warriors on the screen battling out with swords and spears. The intimidating champion comes out to the battlefield with a massive scar across his face and many others across his body. The warrior made me wonder how many fighters in movies seem to have physical flaws to be intimidating.

Doing a quick internet search to find out, I came across an article published by JAMA Dermatology in 2017. The report was about the physical characteristics of movie villains.  They found that six of the top ten villains had some physical defect. Most villains had scars, warts, deep wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes, a bulbous nose, or other types of what are considered defects.

The reason this fascinated me is simple. Those characters are intimidating when confronted. Why is it so intimidating when an opponent’s physically scarred champion faces someone on the battlefield? I think the answer is simple. He survived the other attacks.

I like to read about David’s mighty men. Few of us could fathom ourselves doing the exploits of these men. Josheb-Basshebeth killed eight hundred men in one battle. When the rest of his army retreated, Eleazar stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord gave him the victory. These men are just two examples of the warriors listed with David in 2 Samuel 23.

We like to think of our warriors as strong and undefeated. However, this is rarely the case.

Those intimidating scars did not come from winning every battle. The warrior may have won the war, but somewhere along the line, a weapon struck him or her. The physical scars remain for all to see. It reminds us of the previous, but it also tells us that we are overcomers. We did not die from the weapons used against us. We prevailed. We can look at our scars and say the Lord delivered us. We can live to fight another day.

Not all scars are physical, however. David’s mighty men probably had a few physical injuries, but no one could see most of their wounds. These men most likely met David at the Cave of Adullam mentioned in 1 Samuel 22. “In addition, every man who was desperate, in debt, or discontented rallied around him, and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him.”

Many wounds are emotional, spiritual, or mental. When you overcome these areas, like David’s mighty men, can see that you have faced a battle. They do not know what you have defeated. Only you know how each situation turned out. Emotional, spiritual, or mental scars are for your knowledge only. They should be no less a reminder to you of how you survived the battle to fight another day.

Do not look at your wounds and think you lost. Look at them and know you overcame them. The injury did not kill you. It cannot stop you from moving forward. The only thing that can stop you is you. If the enemy can get you to think you cannot win, he will. Rather than allowing this to happen, put your faith in God, who gives you the strength to carry on.

Regardless of what has injured you, live to fight another day. Be the warrior you were meant to be.