I love reading about people who help me with my faith. In Hebrews, the author talks about being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Those witnesses are the ones who have lived in a time before us. Those witnesses have finished their Christian journey in faith. I’m sure it wasn’t all pretty and neat, though. Because life isn’t! I like to see the messiness of faith walks because my life is far from a neat little walk of faith? Can anybody relate? Those stories help me to realize that I am normal.
The great story of faith that left a great impression on me was that of Corrie ten Boom. The book “The Hiding Place” was so riveting! It helped this hungry reader build faith!
If you’ve never heard of the story, I’ll provide you some background information:
In 1944, Hitler had been seeking to murder people of Jewish descent. Corrie ten Boom lived with her father and sister above the family’s clock shop. The family held weekly prayer meetings that highlighted peace for the Jewish people. Started by Corrie’s grandfather, the prayer meetings had been held for 100 years until 1944!
The ten Boom family home provided a ‘hiding place’ to Jews attempting to escape capture and annihilation by the Hitler regime. The hiding place was nothing more than a space in a closet adjoining a hollow in the wall that was able to hide persons without being detected by the Gestapo. Corrie ten Boom and her family risked everything in order to provide safety for the hunted Jews.
As my eyes and mind devoured this book, I was able to see God’s hand working in their lives at a time when death took so many and was still threatening the lives of others. I want to share three things in particular with you from this amazing account of faith!
- God always has a plan.
Because we are human, and not God, we can’t always see the big picture he has already painted. The ten Boom house was built at least a three hundred years before the hiding place was constructed. The space allowed for at least six adult sized persons to fit in it.
In a documentary describing the hiding place, the narrator spoke of the adjoining homes not being properly aligned. Meaning, the levels of each home didn’t perfectly align. This ‘misalignment’ allowed more space and ventilation in the space where Jews were hiding. Ventilation in a tight spot with multiple people? Important!
After the ten Boom’s were arrested by the Gestapo, six people who were hiding there remained for two days without being found. They all escaped! Before then numerous people were able to take refuge in the hiding space to escape.
- God is a sustainer.
Corrie describes a small bottle of liquid vitamins she had for her sister. She and her sister, together with other women were captured and placed in a barracks within the concentration camp.
Malnutritioned and weak, Betsie, Corrie’s sister, received a drop of this liquid vitamin to sustain her. Before long, the drops were given not only to her sister, but to other weak and malnutritioned women as well. She could have been stingy with it. After all it was hers, right? She was tempted, but she shared that small bottle with probably dozens of women! However, Corrie did worry that the bottle would not last long. But it did
The bottle lasted far beyond the point where it should have been empty. The story of widow of Zarephath came to my mind (1 Kings 17:8-16). God sustained the widow by miraculously multiplying the little she had.
I’ve seen this happen in my life during my 20’s. As a single mother with super-limited resources, I’ve seen the little I had last way longer than it should have. It could have only been the sustaining power of God!
- God uses unconventional situations to stretch our faith.
As the women were being searched and issued their prison clothes, Corrie’s Bible was still with her. She mentioned “It was like it wasn’t even seen!” And so, Corrie was able to share God’s word with hundreds of women in barracks uninterrupted! Yes, UNINTERRUPED!
Normally, the guards would come into the barracks to harass, torture, and conduct grueling inspections of the women.
Well see, they were in a different barracks now. This barracks just happened to be heavily infested with fleas! The guards didn’t want to be bitten by fleas, so they stayed away!
Betsie, beaming with excitement, explained to Corrie that the answer to their prayers was, “give thanks in all things, even for fleas!” She went on to say, the Bible doesn’t say give thanks in all pleasant situations, but in all things! Corrie was not as enthused with her sister, but she quickly saw the hand of God in the situation.
The biting fleas allowed the Gospel to be spread during an unthinkably horrid time. Imprisoned women had met Jesus through the pages of the Bible that was kept hidden in the flea infested straw mattresses they laid on! Wow!
Can you, in your worst situation, find the silver lining or the Godly encouragement for someone else?
You can clearly see now why I loved this book! I hands-down recommend it for everyone to read! It goes down as a classic Christian read!
Corrie ten Boom was released from the concentration camp because of a clerical error. A week later all women her age were killed.
She went on spreading the message of the Gospel and forgiveness until her death.
I leave with you one request: read the book if you haven’t. I believe it will add to your faith as it did mine.
*Reference: Corrie ten Boom, John Sherrill, Elizabeth Sherrill. The Hiding Place. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1971.