Key Passage
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. This happened while Joseph was in Egypt. The angel said, "Get up! Take the baby and his mother and go to Israel. The people that were trying to kill the baby are now dead."
— Matthew 2:19-20 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key Thought
Isn't it interesting how the same place can mean different things for us? Egypt was that way for Israel. Egypt was a place of bondage, but it was also a place where they found food to preserve them during a famine. Egypt was a place of oppression and yet at the same time it was a place of God's great deliverance. Egypt wasn't home, but it was a place where God still was active in guiding and protecting his people and fulfilling his promises to them. As Matthew relates how Jesus was protected in Egypt even though it was not his home, all these connections with Israel's past fill our hearts and remind us of this great truth: If we are seeking to live for our Father, he knows us, he knows our situation, and he is working for our ultimate deliverance no matter where we are!
Prayer
Ever-present Father, I am comforted to see how you protected your Son when he was vulnerable. I am thankful to know that there is never a place or time that your presence is not with me. Please make yourself known in my life each day, as I seek to live for you right where I am, until that day you bring me home. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Related Scriptures
We have sufferings now. But the sufferings we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be given to us. We know that in everything God works for the good of those people that love him. These are the people God called (chose), because that was his plan. Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love—not death, not life, not angels or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from God's love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
— Romans 8:18, 28, 38-39
Your Spirit is in every place I go. Lord, I can't escape you. Lord, if I go up to heaven, you are there. If I go down to the place of death, you are there. Lord, if I go east where the sun rises, you are there. If I go west to the sea, you are there. Even there your right hand holds me, and you lead me by the hand.
— Psalm 139:7-10
Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with the things you have. God has said, "I will never leave you; I will never run away from you." So we can feel sure and say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. People can do nothing to me."
— Hebrews 13:5-6
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