Taken In

Ten foster homes. No adoption. A crash that should have been fatal. Jeffrey from Arizona had every reason to walk away from life. Instead, he walked toward purpose because Truth changed everything.

For my father and mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.
— Psalm 27:10 ESV

Jeffrey came into the world and was handed off. As a newborn, his parents gave him up. Ten foster homes followed—different families, different religions, different cultures. No one ever adopted him. No one ever stayed.

David wrote Psalm 27:10 for exactly that kind of ache. He named it plainly: forsaken. And then he declared a stronger promise. “The Lord will take me in.” He will receive you, claim you, and bring you inside.

What no one on earth offered Jeffrey, God had already settled. He took him in before he ever knew to ask.

The world may have passed you over. God never did—and that identity is yours to live from.

At sixteen, Jeffrey was in a truck that rolled. He went through the windshield and landed under a bridge. He survived and made a decision firth then to “Take the cards that were dealt to me. Be a man. Don’t look back.”

He forgave his parents. He moved forward. He chose to become part of society “instead of taking away from society.” And somewhere in that forward movement, he landed in his career of hospice nursing. For thirty-five years he sat with people at the end of their lives. “It’s never been a job to me; it’s my passion for people,” he shared.

That kind of life comes from someone who knows what it means to be taken in. And he chose to take others in as well. Jeffrey said, “The hardest prison to escape from is our own mind.” Forgiveness unlocked the door. God claiming of him built the foundation.

You may carry your own version of Jeffrey’s story—something you were handed that you didn’t choose, a start that wasn’t fair. The Lord will take you in. He already has.

Today’s One Thing
Read Psalm 27 slowly today. Let verse 10 drop into your spirit. Then sit with these two questions:
Where am I still living as though no one claimed me?
What would change if I lived like God already has?

Go Deeper

Receive Devotionals like This in Your Email