I decided
this summer to read the Hiding Place again. I’d read this book a couple of times before
but this time in reading it I found precious gems of Truth that I had never
seen before.
For those of
you who are unfamiliar with the Hiding
Place, it is the story of Corrie TenBoom and her family who were taken
captive during World War II in Holland for sheltering Jews.
As I perused
this book again new truths came to light that caught me by surprise and took my
breath away.
. . . As the rest of the world grew stranger,
one thing became increasingly clear. And
that was the reason the two of us (Corrie and Betsie, her sister) were
here. As for us, from morning until lights-out,
whenever we were not in ranks for roll call, our Bible was the center of an
ever-widening circle of help and hope. Like
waifs clustered around a blazing fire, we gathered about it, holding out our
hearts to its warmth and light. The blacker the night around us grew, the
brighter and truer and more beautiful burned the word of God.
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1277538 |
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
I would look about us as Betsie read,
watching the light leap from face to face.
More than conquerors . . . It was
not a wish. It was a fact. We knew it, we experienced it minute by
minute – poor, hated, hungry. We are more than conquerors. Not “we
shall be.” We are! Life in Ravensbruck took place on two
separate levels, mutually impossible.
One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God, grew
daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.
Did you
catch it? . . . We ARE more than conquerors.
Not “we shall be.” We ARE!
The LORD rescues the godly; He is their
fortress in times of trouble. The LORD
helps them, rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them, and they find shelter in Him. Psalm 37.39-40
As I look at these verses through
Corrie’s lens I realize that my understanding has been incredibly distorted due to my overwhelming
need for comfort.
Corrie and Betsie’s life in the
prison camp was filled with unspeakable horror. And there is something deep within me that cries, "Why God, Why? Why do you allow such godly people to
suffer and die in such revolting conditions? They followed you. They gave you everything and yet look how You rewarded them!"
And it's almost as if I can hear Corrie saying . . . "God was with me every step
of the way. He WAS my fortress in times
of tribulation. He WAS saving me and I DID find shelter in Him.
I’m ashamed at how easily I slide
into a faith that is only concerned about my comfort and not God’s ways.
LORD, rescue and save me from myself! From my foolish desires, from my own need for comfort. Teach me to follow you with my WHOLE heart. Your love is never conditional – may my love for You never be conditional either.
Corrie's testimony is inspiring. "LORD, resuce and save me from myself!"
ReplyDeleteI pray that SO often!!