Many years ago my cousin had a bad day. He had spent countless hours taking in the family garage area to expand the living area of his home. He was a great craftsman, and the new family room was awesome!
But on the particular afternoon in question, his brand-new family room was destroyed. That afternoon, my cousin, Greg, rushed to get out the door to an important appointment. As he rushed to make his deadline, he quickly buckled his not-yet-2-year-old daughter, Cassie, into her car seat.
In his rush he realized that he had forgotten her favorite stuffed anima,l and she began to cry. Trying to quickly pacify her, he attempted to distract her and get on his way. But her tears escalated and soon he realized that she wasn’t going to settle without her stuffed buddy.
So, Greg dashed back into the house and looked everywhere until he found the toy in question and ran back to the car, realizing that they were going to be late. Quickly he opened the car door, threw the stuffed toy into his daughter’s lap and in haste started the car — while trying to simultaneously buckle his seatbelt.
The scene as he described it was chaotic. Suddenly he reached for the gear shift and threw the car into gear and slammed on the gas. But in his haste to try to make up for lost time, he accidentally threw the car into drive rather than into reverse. The car was sitting in the driveway just outside of the new addition, which he’d worked on so very hard.
As you might imagine, the car lunged forward and smashed through the wall. Building supplies flew everywhere, and the sound of bending metal sounded like a thousand fingernails on a blackboard.
When the car finally stopped, it was parked right in the middle of the living room, and suddenly there was a dreaded hush that took over. He and his daughter sat in shock. For several moments they sat wondering what to do next.
Finally, the silence was broken by the child. She simply said, “Broke, Daddy, broke.”
Perhaps you remember the old nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And the saddest part of the story was when all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
In Genesis 3, the Bible tells the story of that day when God’s perfect design was destroyed. God had fashioned everything and then declared that it was all very good.
But in one chaotic moment God’s perfect design came crashing down. Sin shattered God’s perfect design, and Adam and Eve sat in shock and agony realizing the ramification of their rebellion. I think somewhere in their heart of hearts all they could do was whimper, “Broke, Daddy, broke.”
The brokenness of that moment has haunted all of humanity from that moment forward. We are all broken. And nothing that we can do will fix our problem.
But while all the king’s men couldn’t change the ending, the King of kings can. Thanks be to God, who is in the business of restoring broken lives. Christ came to save … and for that I am eternally grateful!
Mark Adcock is pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship in Fortville. This weekly column is written by local clergy members.
