When we realize life is broken.
There are still images etched into my mind—memories that feel like they've become part of my very soul—that I wish I could forget and would not visit me. This childhood image still awakens me at times in the night. The images linger, uninvited, like shadows in the corners of my mind. Let me take you back to that moment.
I was just a young boy, around seven years old, sitting in my room and playing imaginatively with my Star Wars toys, spaceships, good vs evil. I had them all— The Millennium Falcon, The Death Star, the characters, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker, and Obi Wan. It was the early 1980s, a time when some called the time, Morning in America. For many, it was a time of hope, but for me, my home life was anything but hopeful. My parents had divorced when I was barely five, and as the youngest of four kids, I never had a real relationship with my biological father nor have memories of my parents being together. I was raised in a home by a single mom with four kids. My mom could barely make ends meet as a neonatal nurse but tried her best. I didn’t feel in dire straits as a child, but my family was in need of a rescue.
Back to the scene. I was alone in my room, lost in a world of make-believe with my toys, when suddenly, I heard it—loud, sharp, and terrifying—the sound of glass shattering. It was like a thousand pieces breaking all at once. Startled, I ran downstairs, heart pounding, not knowing what to expect. What I saw when I reached the family room sent my soul into shock.
Glass was everywhere—shattered tables, shards scattered across the floor. My biological father had his hands around my brother's neck. My brother was about fifteen at the time. It was chaos. I don't know where my mother or my two sisters were, but somewhere, faintly, I could hear my mom wailing.
Someone—a voice —told me urgently, "Go now, to your friend's house down the street. Go now. Run." I don’t even remember if I had toys with me, but I ran. I didn’t question it. I wonder if that voice, I heard was an angel, the scriptures say they like to use the word “Go” when He redirects his people for protection or guidance.
The sirens of police cars grew louder as I fled the house, and one of my neighborhood friends came to join me as we ran away together.
Here is the front of the childhood home in Voorhees, New Jersey. The windows on the roof, to the left was my bedroom.
Time passed, and at some point, I returned. I didn’t understand what had happened. I felt embarrassed, confused. How could this be my reality? I don’t even recall how I fell asleep that night. The next day, I learned that my father had taken a fire poker and used it to smash the glass tables in the family room. I asked my brother about the event just recently and he shared it was on a Sunday afternoon watching a Philadelphia Eagles football game and something about the game set my Dad off, and my brother unfortunately took the brunt of my Dad’s violent outbursts.
My brother, my half-brother, was just a child when his own father passed away. My mother remarried, and my brother was adopted by my dad. But it was never a happy home. My father was physically violent—toward my mother, toward my brother, and in front of me. As a young boy, I would freeze in moments like these. I didn’t know what to do. I often found myself bursting into tears, hoping that would make it stop. Sometimes the cries did make it stop.
Now, even after forty years, those images—the broken glass, the shattering sound, the frantic voices—are still with me. I was lucky. I wasn’t physically hurt by the glass or the violence. But the terror, the panic, and the command to flee—they live in me still.
Devotional: Luke 7:11-17
Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.” - Luke 7:11-17
Broken in Nain
Imagine the scene. Jesus and his followers enter a town and they walk into a funeral procession. It was obviously a bad day and perhaps the worst day of the Widow in Nain’s life.
But picture with me this sacred moment, when the eyes of the Savior meet the Widow in Nain.
“When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” - Luke 7:13
God is close to the broken-hearted. In the case of the Widow in Nain, the Lord was close enough to intervene, to meet her eyes and speak life into her circumstance.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” - Psalm 34:18.
It may have been the Widow in Nain’s worst day in her life, the mourning was deep but joy was coming soon. Beloved, God see’s you in your worst moments, turn your gaze to Him, cry out to Him, ask Him for His assistance in your weakness.
“Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” - Luke 7:14-15
The scriptures inform us that Jesus can take dead things and bring them back to life. In this terrible moment for the Widow in Nain, a son though dead became alive again. We do not know the rest of her story, I will share on a later post some thoughts I have about her. But you can imagine her heart and spirit must of just been overjoyed and only praise came from her the rest of her days on earth. She must have been in tune with King David, “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” (Psalm 34:1).
Map of the Ministry of Jesus below:
Closing Prayer:
“Deliver me from the natural darkness of my own mind, from the corruptions of my heart, from the temptations to which I am exposed, from the daily snares that attend me. I am in constant danger while I am in this life; Let thy watchful eye ever be upon me for my defense” - From, God Honoured in The Valley of Vision, Page 25.
Lord, help us to trust you are near in our brokenness and you see our tears. Comfort our hearts with your presence as we look to you making all things new. In Christ Name, Amen.
References / Resources:
Attribute: Life-Giver.
“Go” command and references in the scriptures regarding Angels, there are almost three references (x290) in the scriptures to Angels. “The angel to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you” - Numbers 22:35. Other references of angels and the command to “Go”: Genesis 16:9, 2nd Kings 1:3, 2nd Kings 1:15, 1st Chronicles 21:18, Acts 8:26, Revelation 10:8.
Music related to Passage: Because He Lives by Matt Maher.
Sermons on Passage: Young Man, Is This For You by Charles Spurgeon.
Substack article on Passage: Kyle Morrow, Empathy That Touches
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