FW: Scars

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.

Please pass this on
to those you love.
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.

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