I often commune with God while swimming laps in my neighborhood pool. I am alone in the early morning hours and the setting is peaceful. The sun is peeking through the surrounding pine trees, the sky is a beautiful blue with a few puffy clouds floating by, and the birds are engaging in conversations. 

The constant left/right rhythm of my swim strokes is almost meditative, allowing my mind to wander and God to speak. Thoughts come to me as I reflect on a verse I studied or a devotion I have read. By quieting my own inner voice, I often hear words of comfort, teaching or life application.

After swimming laps one particular morning, I stopped at the end of the pool to stretch. As I leaned forward, I noticed that underwater, the skin on my knees looked different from other parts of my body. This lighter pink area was new skin, a result of scars that are still forming after a bad fall I took while walking the dog a couple of years ago. 

At the time of the fall, I experienced a lot of superficial trauma and a LOT of bleeding (which my husband really enjoyed), but also some damage to the tissue and bone underneath.  Immediately, my body reacted to the trauma, and my knees began to swell. Over the next few weeks, bruises formed, and I had a lot of pain and stiffness. I tried everything to lessen the pain and speed the healing – ointments, oral painkillers, special bandages, and even essential oils a thoughtful neighbor brought over. 

It took time, more time than I would have liked, as I’m not a very patient patient. I wanted an immediate fix, and a return to normal activities and appearance. During that time, it was very obvious that I was injured and had healing wounds. I was embarrassed by my band-aids and scabs whenever I was out in public, as scrapped knees are a common accessory of children, not grown adults.

Now, two years later, during everyday life,  no one would ever notice that anything looks different about my knees. But under those special underwater conditions, I could see my body was still healing. It made me realize, that we all walk around like this, with areas of our life that are still healing.  Wounds that aren’t visible to the naked eye, yet are still there. But, God knows. He sees the wounds, he knows the hurt, the healing that has occurred and the healing still in process. He is ready and waiting to offer us comfort as we heal. 

We should be ready to offer the same, to look for those people whose healing isn’t as evident as red scabs, a bandaged knee or a slight limp. We need to acknowledge that not all wounds leave a mark, but healing is still required. Not every wound heals the same and not every person’s path to healing follows the same timeline. Some wounds will leave a scar or tenderness that wasn’t there before.

Let us have underwater vision to see the tender new skin that everyone wears at some point in their life and give them the time and comfort as they heal.

2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. NKJV