The Gift of Inner Wounds

I do not believe that once our eyes are opened, we will fall back into
a complacent sleep. Nor do I believe that our inner wounds, once
healed, will be forgotten and wasted. God's spirit wastes nothing! We
are told in the twentieth chapter of John that the risen Jesus showed
Thomas and the other disciples his wounds. I used to wonder why those
wounds remained on his risen body of light. Why weren't those earthly
marks of suffering swallowed up, forgotten, in glory? Was it so his
friends could identify him? Partly. But I think there was a more
important reason. I think all his friends through the ages to come
were being shown that wounds, especially when healed, can become
sources and signs of new radiance of life. No longer the sources of
pain and despair, the wounds now healed can become the channels of
healing for others. ...

The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will not remove the lines of hard-won
experience from our faces. A new power of light, the light of the
divine passionate compassion, will shine through those lines on our
faces.
-- Flora Slosson Wuellner, PRAYER, STRESS, AND OUR INNER WOUNDS

Am I becoming who God calls me to be?

I think Straub and Turner point us in the right direction.

The most important question is not, “Have I found the ‘thing’ God wants me to do with my life?” The most important question is, “Am I becoming who God calls me to be in Christ?” Some indicators help us affirm that we are fulfilling our primary calling from God. We know this when we can say: I am...
• sensing and enjoying God’s presence more than I did yesterday
• trusting God more today than I did yesterday
• expressing more compassion and concern for the people around me than I did yesterday
• realizing I am more trustworthy today than I was yesterday
• caring less about what our culture values than I did yesterday
• caring more about Christ’s values today than I did yesterday
• devoting more of my resources to God’s work than I did yesterday
--Gary Straub & Judy Turner, Your Calling as a Leader