Serving At Great Cost

You are my hiding place; You

preserve me from trouble;

You surround me with

songs of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7

You are my hiding place and

my shield; I wait for Your Word.

Psalm 119:114

I don't know how many years ago it was that I first heard of Corrie (Cornelia) ten Boom. My interest in her really peaked with the release of the movie, “The Hiding Place” that was produced by the Billy Graham Association. The great shock for me was when that movie appeared on a major TV network unedited. Having been a history buff for a long time and having been young during the World War II days, I picked up on Corrie, her family, and their ministry.

Corrie and her sister Betsie lived with their father above the family's watch making business. In fact, Corrie was the first female in the Netherlands to become a licensed watchmaker. This family was about as devoted to the Lord as any people you could ever hope to meet. They lived in the city of Haarlem, Holland in the Netherlands. World War II was raging and the Nazi's were moving into almost every European country and finally arrived in the Netherlands. The queen of the Netherlands and her cabinet barely made it out of the country as the Nazi's were arriving.

Right away, the Jews in their city were being persecuted. They were required to wear their yellow star patches with the word “Jude” on them. Their businesses were destroyed and many were beaten and abused in every way possible. Jews were being shipped out of the city. Rumors were that they were being taken to work camps. Later, it would become known that the work camps were actually death camps.

Jews were looking for places to hide and because the ten Booms had a large house, they worked to adapt it to accommodate extra people that they could hide from the Nazis. This house became known as “The Hiding Place.” The ten Booms identified with the Jews feeling it only right to take care of God's people as best they could.

They were of course, found out...betrayed by a neighbor. Corrie and Betsie were taken to one processing center and their father to another. Mr. ten Boom was quite old and only lived a couple of weeks before he could even be sent to any specific camp. Corrie and Betsie were moved a couple of times but ended up in the Ravensbruck death camp. There's just too much to tell here about the torture they endured but the blessing in their story is all the many ways God provided for their every need and their faithfulness in ministering to the women in their barracks.

Betsie died in the camp of a serious illness. Later, Corrie was called out from the morning roll call with some other women. This was usually what happened when certain women were to be executed. However, through a “fluke” in paperwork, Corrie was “mistakenly” put on a list of those women to be released. She spent the rest of her life ministering and traveling encouraging an attitude of forgiveness in everyone she spoke to. She had a massive stroke a few years ago that took her ability to move about and even to talk. She died at the age of 91.

(Let me encourage you to go on your computer and go to CORRIE TEN BOOM.MUSEUM. It's a fascinating history and tour of her family's home in Haarlem.)

I look at a life like Corrie's and I am caused to do some deep thinking about my own faith and faithfulness. We Christians in America are so very spoiled. I realize that things are heating up brought on by atheists and people of other cults or religions, all of whom just want Christianity to go away. Believe me, it's not going away. I can't believe what I'm seeing now in comparison to the Christian country I knew growing up as a young girl. Satan is alive and well. He doesn't just want to take our country's motto off of our money and “under God” out of our pledge to the flag. Satan wants to get down and dirty and he's only warming up in the bull pen in these days.

So I ask myself:

How strong is my faith?

Am I willing to give up my life for Jesus if it came to that?

If I think I would give up my life for Jesus, then what am I doing in these day as a witness?

Am I bold in speaking up for Jesus and what He means to me?

We have friends in other countries controlled by non-Christian governments who would be in great trouble if they were caught reading an article like this. We have several ladies that I pray for regularly who are regular readers some of whom would love to either have a copy of God's Word or could be in great trouble if found carrying a copy of it. If they meet in homes for worship and are caught, it could mean imprisonment or their lives. They are reading this same article as you.

Could I run the risk of doing what the ten Boom family did in saving lives?

If ever arrested for my faith, would I be bold enough to take a firm stand for Christ no matter the cost? Should a gun be put to my head by a terrorist demanding I deny my Savior, how would I respond? That doesn't even seem like a probably scenario, does it...seems far fetched. A few years ago, one school girl at least was told to deny her faith and when she wouldn't, was shot and killed by a fellow student in Columbine, Colorado. In our day, however, nothing should surprise us.

Do I know enough Bible by memory that if I were denied the right to have one, could I remember any amount of Scripture to sustain and strengthen me? What is my prayer life like? Do I pour my heart out to God only when in trouble or in great need? Have I made the Lord my own personal hiding place?

I can't resist as I finish writing, to quote from Corrie's personal wisdom. Even now she speaks and encourages us to be all for Jesus we can be.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”

“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable and

receives the impossible.”

“If God sends us on stony paths, He provides strong shoes.”

“Conditions are always changing; therefore, I must not be

dependent upon conditions. What matters supremely is

my soul and my relationship to God.”

“God has buried our sins in the depth of the deepest sea.

He then posted a sign saying...”NO FISHING.”

“We must mirror God's love in the midst of a world full

of hatred. We are the mirrors of God's love, so we

may show Jesus by our lives.”

“In the center of a hurricane there is absolute quiet

and peace. There is no safer place than in

the center of the will of God.”

Lord Jesus...I never want to disappoint You. I want to stand for You at every opportunity with no shame or embarrassment. Give me Your wisdom that I will handle the worst of situations that come into my life as You would have it to be. I love You and thank You for Your unconditional love for me despite all of my sinful ways. Amen