One night on patrol an unusual call came over the radio. A 9-year-old girl called the police and said her parents were using drugs. We responded and found it just as she said. The parents were arrested for possession of narcotics and went to jail. When DHR responded, they removed the child from the home and had me transport her to foster care. We thought we did a good thing. We felt like we were helping. 

Years later, while sitting in my office, I could see the investigators outside my door craning their necks to see over their cubicles. That usually meant one thing, a pretty lady was in the lobby. I went out to see, and that is what I found. We were investigating a robbery/murder and the lady’s boyfriend was a suspect.

She told me her parents were addicts. The police took her from her home when she was nine. Then she entered foster care. The story sounded familiar. I asked her name. “Sadie,” she said. It was the same little girl I met years earlier. “That was me,” I said. “I’m the one who took you to your foster home that night.” 

Sadie had spent ten years bouncing from one foster home to another. There were ten foster families in all. We took a broken girl from a broken family and placed her in a broken system. The result was predictable. Sadie was in and out of jail for several years. From a human perspective, she never had a chance. It’s been many years. I still pray for Sadie.

“Don’t judge people. You never know what they’re going through.” Anonymous

A guy at church asked me, “Why did God allow me to go through the things I did? Why did I have to grow up like that?” I told him I didn’t know. I think the answer lies somewhere between man’s free will and God’s sovereignty. If you had a good childhood, thank God you did. If you didn’t, God is still there, especially for the wounded.

Jesus told a story about grace. Two men went to pray. One thanked God he was not like the other man. He recited all his accomplishments to God. The other guy hung his head and asked for forgiveness. Jesus said this sinner is the one who went home justified, not the self-righteous one.

Don’t come to God on your own merit. It won’t get you far. You may be better than the next guy, but you don’t know his circumstances. Self-righteousness keeps us from God. “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6) Read that last part again. Stay humble my friend.