The Healing Journey

December 13, 2024

The song “Scars in Heaven” is one of the most moving and beloved songs of the contemporary Christian rock group Casting Crowns. The song was written by Mark Hall, a youth pastor, who is the lead vocalist, and Matthew Joseph West. The group, which began as a student worship band in Daytona Beach, Florida, has won a Grammy and a Dove Award. Their hope was that the song would bring comfort to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one by knowing they are healed and with Jesus. Hall has said the song was inspired by seeing his mother care for her parents before they died. “When we lose someone, our only faith and comfort has got to come from the Father,” he said. “It’s not going to come from here, because all we see are reminders that we don’t have them. So what we’ve got to do is we’ve got to ask God to help us release our ideas of who I knew that loved one was, and I’ve got to start focusing on who they are now.”

Listen to Casting Crowns sing “Scars in Heaven”

Scars In Heaven

If I had only known the last time would be the last time
I would’ve put off all the things I had to do
I would’ve stayed a little longer, held on a little tighter
Now what I’d give for one more day with you
‘Cause there’s a wound here in my heart where something’s missing
And they tell me that it’s gonna heal with time
But I know you’re in a place where all your wounds have been erased
And knowing yours are healed is healing mine
The only scars in Heaven, they won’t belong to me and you
There’ll be no such thing as broken, and all the old will be made new
And the thought that makes me smile now, even as the tears fall down
Is that the only scars in Heaven are on the hands that hold you now
I know the road you walked was anything but easy
You picked up your share of scars along the way
Oh, but now you’re standing in the sun, you’ve fought your fight and your race is run
The pain is all a million miles away
The only scars in Heaven, they won’t belong to me and you
There’ll be no such thing as broken, and all the old will be made new
And the thought that makes me smile now, even as the tears fall down
Is that the only scars in Heaven, yeah, are on the hands that hold you now
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, for the hands that hold you now
There’s not a day goes by that I don’t see you
You live on in all the better parts of me
Until I’m standing with you in the sun, I’ll fight this fight and this race I’ll run
Until I finally see what you can see, oh-oh
The only scars in Heaven, they won’t belong to me and you
There’ll be no such thing as broken, and all the old will be made new
And the thought that makes me smile now, even as the tears fall down
Is that the only scars in Heaven are on the hands that hold you now

(Songwriters: John Mark Hall / Matthew Joseph West
Scars in Heaven lyrics © Essential Music Publishing)

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