The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

Although I probably should have read this years ago, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom came into my life at exactly the right time.

You see, I've been questioning a lot of sad things in our world lately. There have been too many senseless deaths in my life, and I wonder why. . .why things are how they are. Why things can't be better. Why drug abuse takes so many, and why depression isn't cured yet.

Corrie Ten Boom was raised by remarkable people, people who embraced all. Their love of mankind was so deep that they risked their own lives to safe others during the Holocaust. Their love of God and Jesus Christ was so great that they were able to see others as good - even people who had done horrible things to them - and forgive, love, and help those people find the light.

Corrie's sister, Betsie was probably one of the best people who has ever lived. She gave thanks and appreciated everything, even thanking God for the fleas that tormented them in the concentration camp. I thought surely she had lost her mind, but those fleas played a role in her story. Her attitude has changed the way I think about things, and I can only hope that I can stay upbeat in times of stress.

Their love and study of the scriptures helped them know what God would have them do, gave them strength through time spent in concentration camps and prison, and gave them hope and vision of how they could change the world by helping others. I was impressed that they were willing to share the scriptures of other faiths and see those truths along with truths from their own scriptures.

I love this book. One of the stories Corrie tells is of how as a child she sees the word sexsin in a poem and asks her father what it means. He answers her with an object lesson. They are on a train and ready to disembark. He says to Corrie as he puts his heavy traveling case on the floor, "Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?"

"I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning."

"It's too heavy," I said.

"Yes," he said. "And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you" (26, 27).

Later in the story, Corrie is asked, "What kind of God would let that old man die here in Scheveningen?" (a prison).

"I got up from the chair and held my hands out to the squat little stove. I did not understand either why Father had died in such a place. I did not understand a great deal. And suddenly I was thinking of Father's own answer to hard questions: "Some knowledge is too heavy . . . you cannot bear it . . . Your Father will carry it until you are able" (163).

This really hit me. I need to trust in the Lord. I also need to study his words more thoroughly as peace, comfort, and answers are found there.

Read today as the book you read may be just what you need.