“Unwanted, abandoned because I don’t measure up!” That is how many people feel in our world of upside-down values. Yet, no matter how insecure we feel, each one of us is unique and of infinite worth to our Creator, who didn’t make a mistake when he brought us into being. We may not have Hollywood money or good looks or the brains of Einstein or even the popularity of some of our former classmates at school, but to the one who truly knows us through and through, we are loved with a passion. As the ancient, Hebrew prophet once said about God:

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Isaiah 42:3 (NIVUK)

The BBC’s Panorama programme recently conducted a fascinating investigation into the true identity of a gentle, elderly, American man found abandoned in November 2015 on the streets of Hereford, a small but historic English city. His dementia meant he was unable to explain his situation, and only once did he reveal his name, Roger Curry. He was taken temporarily to a local care home, where he was loved and adopted as one of their own. Unfortunately efforts by the local police to find his family proved fruitless.

So using social media and a lot of detective work, Panorama finally found his real home, a fenced off, fire-damaged, single-storey house in Los Angeles, the city where he had once worked as a nurse. Roger’s wife and son are accused by the Los Angeles authorities of taking him to England and abandoning him. Roger has now been flown back to Los Angeles where he is being looked after by the local authority. Sadly, according to the Panorama report, the care he’s been receiving recently in L.A., doesn’t match the level of care or devotion that he experienced at the care home in Hereford. The US courts are now deciding on Roger’s future.

To be rejected by your family, for whatever reason, is very sad, but thankfully God will never reject us. His eye is always upon us; his ear is always listening for our cry. So call on the one who loves you, tell Him your troubles, confide in him; never feel afraid that you don’t match up to His expectations, receive his love for you today. Our anxious hearts can be reassured by His promise:

“I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5 (GNT)