A Life Surrendered

“You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.” Ps. 32:7

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks (to be grateful, thankful); for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thes. 5:16-18

Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who became involved in the Dutch underground hiding Jews during the Holocaust. Her mother and father imparted a deep love for God in Corrie’s heart as well as a deep love for the Jews.

The Ten Boom family was a devout, Christian family known throughout Haarlem, Holland as such. When the Nazis invaded Holland, the Ten Booms without a second thought, knew their duty before God was to protect the Jews from the onslaught of evil; therefore, any Jew who showed up at their door, found refuge in the Ten Boom home.

Papa Ten Boom had built a secret hiding place in a false wall of Corrie’s room. When Nazi security sweeps moved through the neighborhood, a buzzer in the house would signal danger, allowing the Jews one minute to make their way to the hiding place in Corrie’s room (see attached photo).

On February 28, 1944, a Dutch informant told the Nazis of the Ten Boom’s underground activities. Nazi Gestapo agents raided the Ten Boom watch shop arresting, Corrie ten Boom, her 84 year old father, Casper, her sisters, Betsie and Nollie, her brother, Willem, and her nephew, Peter for hiding Jews in their home. They were sent to a Dutch prison, where Corrie’s father died just 10 days after their arrest.

Although German soldiers searched the house from top to bottom, they were unsuccessful in locating the six Jews safely concealed in the hiding place. The six remained in the cramped, concealed space for almost three days before being rescued by the Dutch underground.

Upon arrest, Corrie was separated from her family and due to a severe case of influenza; she was placed in solitary confinement.

Approximately three months later, Corrie and Betsie, after a nightmare ride, arrived at the notorious Ravensbruck Concentration camp in Germany. While in the camp, Corrie and Betsie endured horrors beyond most of our imaginations.

Miraculously (truly miraculous!), Corrie smuggled a Bible into the camp. In the midst of their suffering, they clung to the Lord, finding hope in the words of Psalm 32:7, “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance,” and Psalm 119:114, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word,” and they set their hearts on shining the light of truth and hope to the women of their barracks in the midst of the intense darkness and suffering.

The conditions at Ravensbruck were deplorable. On their first day in Ravensbruck, Corrie felt something pinching her leg. To her horror, she realized she was being bitten by fleas. The entire place was infested with fleas! Corrie was mortified. Her sister, Betsie began to pray. She had remembered a Scripture passage they had read that morning; be thankful in all things. Corrie could not imagine what she could be thankful for in such appalling conditions. Betsie began to list those things for which they could thank God…including the fleas. Corrie was incensed! Be thankful for fleas? What? Corrie acquiesced and with Betsie, they bowed their heads and thanked God for the fleas.

Corrie’s sister, Betsie, constantly ill and weakened after a beating by a concentration camp guard, was sent to the concentration camp “hospital.” Three days after her release from the “hospital” where she received no medical attention, simply a reprieve from the endless torturous labor, she had made an amazing discovery and shared it with her sister.

They had often wondered why they had so much freedom to share the gospel in their barracks. Betsie, while, hospitalized, had overheard the guards talking. They revealed that they never entered Corrie and Betsie’s barracks because of the flea infestation!

Due to the fleas, Corrie and Betsie were able to freely share God’s hope and truth each night and they and the women of their barracks experienced brutality-free nights due to the fact the sadistic guards would not enter their barracks…due to the fleas!

Corrie thought: “My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie’s bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures (fleas) I could see no use for.”

Sadly, Betsie died while in the concentration camp. Twelve days later, due to a clerical error (God’s providence!), Corrie was released.

After the war, Corrie returned to The Netherlands to set up refugee houses which consisted of concentration-camp survivors and extending God’s mercy, the Dutch who had previously collaborated with Germans during the Occupation. In 1946, Corrie began a worldwide ministry, traveling to more than 60 countries, sharing the beauty of forgiveness and God’s healing grace.

Corrie authored The Hiding Place, sharing her experiences during WWII and testifying to what she and Betsie learned, “There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still.” 

I have been forever changed by the testimony of Corrie and Betsie Ten Boom’s lives. Their lives serve as a testimony to God’s great love which overcomes even the darkest of evils, and to the power of a grateful heart no matter our circumstances.

May we remember God’s great love and may we give thanks even in the midst of those things that come into our lives that appear to be pests, appear to cause pain, appear to have no purpose, and appear to be useless.

May we see His goodness regardless of our circumstances. May we give thanks in all things, knowing He is the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity and Whose Name is Holy (Is. 57:15). We see the past and a snapshot of the present, but He sees and dwells in the entirety of time. He sees the entire picture—from eternity past to eternity future. He is creating a final masterpiece and it will be beautiful. Rest assured.