Broken Pieces

How many of us have ever experienced, or are experiencing, a moment in which you feel like your world has been torn apart and the floor has just opened and you have fallen inside? This Bible story has this situation written all over it, but the solution is awesome and it gives us hope even today. It is found in Luke 7 vs. 11-15 which says

"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."

To start, let's look at the 2 main people in this story. First, let's look at the woman. What’s interesting is that Luke includes that this lady is a widow. She has lost her husband and now death has taken her only son. Can you imagine the state of sadness she is experiencing? . She may be also feeling depression and loneliness as well. She is around a crowd of people while walking next to her son’s corpse, but she feels like she’s the only one there. She may also be thinking “God you have taken all that I have left”. But then there is Jesus. It’s no coincidence that the essence of life, Himself, was walking in that town as the same time. Jesus had compassion on the woman. Compassion is given to this widowed woman as a father is giving it to His child. Jesus then raises the child from the dead.

Looking at the location of this story adds to the powerful message this story is portraying. The town was a village called Nain which is a little town south-west of Capernaum. When we look at the definition of the name “Nain” in Hebrew it shows us that it means “beauty”. But wait a minute; we’re talking about a funeral here. How does this fit into the meaning of “beauty”? When we are going through a hard time, it is difficult to see the beauty inside of the ashes.The widow was going through an excruciating heart break. She felt like her heart feel to the floor and broke like a jar. But she gave her broken pieces to Jesus. If you are going through something, and you are feeling like the widow, I am challenging you today to give your broken pieces to Jesus. When we give our broken pieces to Jesus, He fixes it into something beautiful and full of meaning and life. it’s hard, but it’s something worth doing.