The first time the Magi arrived in search of Jesus was no different. Ever since that night, after Herod had learned of the King who had been born in the city of David, sleeping in peace in that small town became impossible as well. Especially for the families of those who lost their baby boys at the hands of the soldiers sent by the paranoid king. Warned by an angel, Joseph took the child and Mary and took refuge in Egypt.

If there is anyone who knows what it is to have long, dark, anxious nights, it is our Lord. During his public ministry, he would have no place to rest his head. On his way to the cross to pay for our peace with His blood,  He would spend long nights of insomnia in prayer to His Father. When His hour came, He was crucified for our sins and then sealed in a tomb where he would sleep the sleep of death. Then, on the third day, he awoke from the dead to never die again.

Our Prince of Peace can not only identify with those who are spending these long nights of anxiety and insomnia in the local refuge camps, but he has won the true peace they now need so badly, by paying for our sins on the cross. I ask you to pray with me for our brothers and sisters to the south, while we share this good news with them. Our Savior, who once slept in the manger, who was crucified and rose to give us forgiveness and peace with God, does not sleep. We have His promise: “Take into account that the protector of Israel never sleeps.”

-Adapted from “40 Daily Devotionals of God´s Comfort in Times of Disaster, published by LCMS Disaster Response