MONDAY

Matthew 2:1-23

All’s well that ends well, right? While we all know what it’s like to go through those moments when it looked like things could really go sideways on us, but it works out in the end and we experience the sense of grateful relief that comes with it, there are also other moments. Moments we got through, but in some significant ways, all was not well. Those are the times in which we struggle with real losses, disruptions, and anxious moments. Even though God is with us and gets us through it, the tragedy that also surrounds us as a consequence of living in a fallen world is still very real.

The familiar story in today’s passage is one of those. It is much more pleasant to focus on the visit of the magi as they follow the star and bring gifts to the Christ child than it is to read of Herod’s brutal response, the tragedy and heartache that swept through the town of Bethlehem, and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus fleeing for their lives. The world Jesus was born into, and the world in which we live, can be a very hard place to be at times. God was still with those families that suffered those devastating losses. And God was still with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus as well, but the ride could not have been an easy one. As you reflect on today’s passage and what it must have been like for this young family to go through what they did, consider the following:

• Think about how Mary and Joseph must have felt as they navigated a rather dangerous situation and, with God’s guidance, fled to Egypt for safety. Would they have struggled with being immigrants in a foreign land, or perhaps with survivor’s guilt? What kinds of things do we struggle with when we make it through things that others don’t get through as well?

• Jesus’ growing-up years unfolded in ways that Mary and Joseph would not likely have anticipated on the night he was born. Instead of growing up in David’s city, those early years were spent in Egypt, and later in Nazareth. Have you experienced times in which what you anticipated gave way to something you would not have imagined? How did you (or do you) relate to that?

• In what ways do you see God at work in the midst of their chaos? How would they have been able to find hope and reassurance, even in the midst of what they were experiencing? Where do you find these things? In what ways can you connect with their experience?

Take a few moments to share with God in prayer what surfaces for you as you reflect on their challenging story as parents during this tough time.