After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.

Matthew 2:13-16

Dear God, I was reading a missionary friend’s newsletter this morning and I saw they are doing work in Europe with refugees there. It made me think about people fleeing danger in their home countries and this brought to mind that Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt to escape violence and death. I wonder what Egypt’s immigration process was at the time. How did they secure their borders?

While we deal with our government figuring out our own border policy, I think there is a point where we as Christians should turn our attention to the causes of violence in their home regions and pray through our responses. Are there organizations on the ground we should help? Should we put pressure on our government to help? At the very least, should we be praying fervently for the families who are like the ones in verse 16–the ones who lost their children?

Father, there is a lot to pray for here. There is the violence in the countries of origin. There are the scared families. There is the response once they get to our border. There is the assimilation into our culture. And this is only scratching the surface. Make me smarter about this. Make me wiser. And use me however you will.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen