Episode 15: Rooted & Recovered - Scars That Speak

We live in a world that tells us to hide what hurts, filter the pain, fake the smile, pretend we’re fine. But what if the very thing you’re trying to cover is the very thing God wants to use?

This episode is for anyone who feels disqualified by their past—anyone still carrying the weight of what they wish never happened. In Scars That Speak, Dan takes us deep into the truth that in the Kingdom of God, scars don’t disqualify you; they commission you.

You’ll hear the raw, unfiltered truth about how your wounds can become someone else’s wake-up call. Why? Because your scars are more than reminders of pain, they are proof of grace, evidence of survival, and the pulpit from which God wants to speak.

Key Highlights:

• John 20:27 — Jesus didn’t hide His scars. He showed them.
• Revelation 12:11 — “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.”
• Your scars aren't shameful, they’re sacred.
• Recovery doesn’t require perfection. It requires honesty.
• What if your breakdown is the blueprint for someone else’s breakthrough?

Scriptures Covered:
John 20:27 • Revelation 12:11 • Psalm 34:18 (referenced) • Hebrews 13:8 (referenced)

Final Truth:
God doesn’t waste wounds. He weaponizes them.
When you speak, hell trembles. Your voice isn’t just a story, it’s a strategy. And your scars? They’re not the end of the story. They’re the beginning of someone else’s freedom.

Transcript

0:00

This world doesn't hand out healing. It offers quick fixes, cheap pies and empty promises, but real recovery, it takes roots. Roots that dig deep into truth, into identity, into the unshakeable grace of God. We're not here to sugarcoat the struggle. We've lived it addiction. Shame, relapse, regret. But we've also seen resurrection. We've seen what happens when broken people get anchored in something real rooted and recovered is more than a podcast. It's a battleground for the soul. A place where scars tell stories, where scripture speaks louder than shame, where freedom isn't just a word. It's a war we win daily. So if you're tired of surface level answers, if you want truth that convicts, hope that heals, and conversations that cut through the noise, you're in the right place. Welcome to Rooted and Recovered.

Dan: 1:08

Welcome to another episode of Rooted and Recovered. I'm your host, Dan Pyles, and I'm so thankful that you are joining me today for another powerful episode titled Scars That Speak. Guys, we live in a world that tells us to hide what hurts. Smile for the cameras, you know, filters for the pain. We live in a world that tells us to pretend we're fine. But let me ask you something. What if the very thing you've been trying to cover up the scar that that still stings that memory that still haunts you, that that chapter in your life that you wish you could rip outta your story and, and throw that thing in the trash that nobody ever see again? The exact thing that God wants to use to set someone free. You see scars don't mean you lost scars. Guys, they mean you survived. They mean you've been through it and you came out breathing. And in the Kingdom of God, family scars don't disqualify you. You know what scars do? They commission you because there's someone out there drowning. In the same storm that you and I came through, and what if, just go with me on this for just a moment. What if your scar is the lifeline that that individual's been waiting for? You see, this episode today is for the one who feels disqualified by their past. For the ones who wonder if they'll ever be more than their mistakes. This episode today is for the ones who, who are still trying to hide the damage. When God is saying, show them, show them what I healed. Show them what I brought you through, guys. Welcome to a new kind of recovery conversation. A conversation that's raw, real, and rooted in redemption. Because what the enemy tried to use to shame you and I, God plans to use it. let's be real. We spent a lot of our lives trying to cover up the parts of us that we don't want anyone to see. We hide the relapses. We, we minimize the rock bottoms. We, we put filters over the pain, the struggle, the ugly chapters of our story because somewhere along the way we started believing the lie that being used by God requires being perfect. But hear me, that's not the gospel family. That's pride in disguise. The Kingdom of God doesn't run on image control, family. It runs on redemption And your redemption, it's not spotless, it's scarred. And that's exactly the point you see, because even Jesus had scars. Let's go to the word for a second in John chapter 20, verse 27. Jesus has risen the, the grave couldn't hold him. He just defeated death, and he appears before his disciples, Thomas, one of the disciples is doubting and he needs proof. But what I love what Jesus did, Jesus doesn't give him a theology lecture. He doesn't rebuke him. You know what he does? He shows him his scars. In fact, the Bible tells him, he says, to put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. That's powerful family. Jesus didn't cover up the places where the nails went. You know what he did? He highlighted it. Think about that for just a moment. The resurrected savior. Didn't show up in some perfect polished body. He showed up with scars as proof that pain has a purpose, that the wounds didn't win. And I gotta ask you today, what are you hiding that God wants to use? Let's flip this back on us. What have you been hiding that God wants to use? What part of your story are you keeping silent when someone out there is desperate to hear it? What if the very thing that you are ashamed of is the very thing that sets someone else free? What if your breakdown is the blueprint? Someone else needs to find their breakthrough. You see, your scars are not just reminders of, of where you've been. They are evidence of what God brought you through. And maybe just maybe those scars are your pulpit. Let's talk recovery for just a second. Recovery doesn't mean you're spotless. It doesn't erase your past. It redeems it. It says, I used to be an addict, but I'm not anymore. I used to run, but now I'm rooted. I used to be ashamed, but now I speak. Listen, people don't need another perfect Christian with a stage Instagram testimony. You know what they need? they need someone who's been through the fire and still smells like smoke, but can say with boldness, I'm still here and God's not done, and neither am I. Guys, there's authenticity in scars. There's authority in scars, you see, because that's why the enemy doesn't attack your talent. He attacks your story because if he can keep you quiet, he can keep someone else in chains. But God, God wants you loud with your testimony. God wants you unashamed of your scars because the same grace that got you out can get them out to. And here's the thing, you don't have to preach a sermon. You don't have to have a theology degree. You just have to be honest. Let me speak to someone who still feels like they're not ready to talk. Their past is still too recent. Too messy, too painful, my friend. You are not disqualified. You are being prepared even if you're still in the middle of your healing process. It's part of the story. Don't wait until you're polished to speak because most people don't relate to polished. You know what they relate to. They relate to real. Here's something I've learned. Family pain that's never processed turns into poison, but pain that's surrendered to God becomes power. You don't process pain by pr, by pretending it never happened. You process pain by inviting God into it. Then using it to pull someone else out of theirs. Guys, that's recovery, that's purpose. That's redemptive grace at work, your scars aren't shameful. Family, they're sacred. Your past doesn't disqualify you. What it's doing is it's equipping you. That thing you're hiding might be the exact story. Someone else is praying to hear the people. The individuals who have been through the deepest valleys carry the most powerful voices, and if Jesus can show his wounds, family, so can you. Because your breakthrough, it's isn't just about you, it's the blueprint for somebody else's freedom. Our scripture focus today is in Revelations chapter 12, verses 11. Listen to what it says. They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the words of their testimony. Family. Your testimony is a weapon. Let that sink in. The Bible says they overcame. They didn't just survive. They didn't barely make it. They overcame. And how did they overcome family? They didn't overcome by hiding their past. They didn't overcome by pretending. They never messed up. They didn't overcome by sitting silent in the pews hoping no one found out what they've been through. No, they overcame by the blood of Jesus and by being bold enough to open their mouth about what God has done in their life. Why? Because the cross covered them, but the confession of their story brought victory into the light. Guys, your testimony is not a side note to your faith. It's one of the most powerful tools that God has given you in this fight. So stop minimizing what God is trying to maximize in your life. We've got to stop acting like our stories don't matter, like what we've been through, disqualifies us instead of empowering us. Listen, the enemy knows something that many Christians forget. A silent testimony is a powerless one. If the blood of the lamb saves you, the word of your testimony shakes hell itself. So when you speak family, listen to this. When you speak hell tremble. When you open up your mouth and say, I was addicted, but now I'm free. I was ashamed, but now I walk in Grace, I fell. Yes, I relapsed and I fell again and again. But Grace never let me stay down. Family. That's not healing. That's. Warfare you are kicking down the doors that others are still locked behind because you are handing out hope in the same place where you once fell hopeless. Guys, your voice is a part of God's victory. Plan, don't miss this, catch this. The Book of Revelation doesn't say they overcame by someone else's testimony. It doesn't say they overcame by having perfect church attendance. It doesn't say they overcame by. By having five years in recovery, it says they overcame by the blood of the lamb and by their own story. That means family. Your story matters. It means your healing is someone else's hope. It means your scars aren't just reminders. Family, they're declarations. And when you speak Grace Echoes. I want you to picture this for just a moment. Picture someone right now sitting in their car, parked outside the liquor store, or about to call their dealer, their one decision away from relapse, but they scroll through their feed. They hear your story. They hear how God met you at your rock bottom. They hear how God didn't give up on you when you gave up on yourself, when everyone else gave up on you. When they hear how Grace showed up one more time and pulled you back in and in that moment your testimony. Became their turning point. That's not just possible family, that's not just a made up story. That's why you are still breathing. That's why you are still here. That's why that suicide attempt didn't take you out. That's why that overdose didn't kill you. That's why you hit rock bottom. Didn't make you lose your mind. This is why you are still here. Family. You don't have to preach a sermon to shake the gates of hell. You just have to open your mouth and tell the truth about what Grace has done in your life. So let me ask you something real. What scar have you been too ashamed to share? What part of your story have you kept locked away because you thought it disqualified you? Maybe it's the relapse you don't talk about. Maybe it's that secret struggle in your life that you swore to yourself that you would never admit. Maybe it's that pain that you think about every day that makes you weak. Maybe it's that mistake in your life that still haunts you late at night, but what if that's exactly the part of your life that God wants to use? What if the wound you've been hiding is the very thing that could set someone else free? Family. Grace doesn't ask you to pretend you don't need to wrap your story in a bow to make it useful. You don't have to wait until you figured it all out to let God use your voice. Family, your scars don't disqualify you. They verify you. They say, I've been through it. I know what the pit feels like. But I also know what grace feels like. Don't you see? God doesn't waste wounds. He weaponizes them for healing, and that's what makes the gospel so powerful. Family. Jesus didn't rise with flawless skin. He rose with scars. Scars that proved the pain was real. Scars that told the story of suffering and salvation scars that he chose to keep as an eternal testimony of grace. Let God reframe the pain in your life. So what if instead of running from your past, you reframed it? What if you stopped calling that chapter shame and started calling it a setup for someone else's freedom? What if God didn't just heal you for you, but so someone else could find hope through your healing? You see, you might think you're the only one who's been through what you've been through. But I promise you, someone out there is fighting the same battle you fought, and they don't need you to be perfect. They don't need a polished version of you. They don't need you with a theology degree and, and a perfect credit score and, and, and a background at Squeaky Clean. No. They just need you. They need you to be honest. Guys, God doesn't waste wounds. He weaponizes them for healing. He takes your pain and he puts power behind it. He takes your scars and he turns them into signs. He takes what the enemy meant to break you, and he uses it to build others. So as we get ready to wrap this podcast up today. Let me say this very clearly to you. You, my friend, my brother, my sister. You are not a walking failure. You're not your relapse, you're not your mistake. You're not what they said about you. You are not even what you used to believe about yourself, family. You are a living testimony of mercy, of grit and grace, and the fact that you're still here, still fighting, still hoping, still standing family. That's not weakness. That's proof. Proof that grace is real. Proof that God still moves proof that recovery isn't about hiding your past. It's about redeeming it. Don't hide the evidence of grace. Let your scar speak. Let your wounds be a witness. Let your story breathe because someone out there needs to know that they're not alone. And guess what? You are the one God chose to tell them. So let's go. This world doesn't need another flawless influencer. It needs real people with real scars who serve a real savior. So take the pressure off. You're not here to impress anyone. You're here to shine a light. Even if that light flickers sometimes, even if it, even if it comes through cracks and and pains and bruises, that's how the gospel gets through. That's how hope spreads. So here's your challenge, family. Tell your story. Don't wait until it's perfect. Don't wait until you're fully healed. Don't wait for permission. You already have a platform family. It's called your pain. You already have a sermon. The most powerful sermon you'll ever come up with. Your scars, and you already have a calling. To show what Grace can do in someone else's life just like it did for you. I love you. I'm praying for you family, and until next time, stay rooted, stay recovered, and let's get to work.

21:53

You are not just surviving. You are becoming, becoming rooted in truth, becoming recovered by grace, and becoming the person God always knew you could be. Thanks for joining us on Rooted in Recovered. If this episode stirred something in you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, live it, let it take root. We'll see you next time right here where scars become testimonies and hope rises from the ashes.