Immigrants to this country often face a challenge of trust. Many have come out of dangerous situations where they learned to trust no one—not even friends or family. They suffered betrayal by people close to them—some going to prison, some even to death. And even in the U.S., there are still con artists who deliberately prey on them, because they know that newcomers don’t understand how everything works.
Do you ever feel like you don’t belong in this world? Jesus said as much when he prayed to the Father for us, the night He was betrayed. He knew that the very next day He would be leaving the world through His death on the cross to save us, and he was concerned for us. So He prayed.
Jesus understands the special needs of children—how vulnerable they are, and how easily hurt. That is one reason he commands us to let the children come to him. In the arms of their Savior, they will never be lost or out of place. They have a home forever in the heart of him who died and rose again to save them.
For refugees and immigrants, almost everything about their lives is a new beginning. A new language… a new city… new foods and customs… new work… new friends. The newness can be overwhelming. When it is, we call it culture shock.
How amazing, that God should love us enough to come into this world as a human baby, to share our lives in all their pain—even the hardest experiences! In Matthew 2 we see Jesus as a refugee—a toddler, barely old enough to walk and talk, torn away from his own country because his life was in danger.