Corrie’s Legacy – Chris Adams

When have you read something an author wrote (besides the Bible) that just gripped your heart and maybe even made you cry? Perhaps you watch how someone loves Jesus and you just want to know and love Him that deeply.

I believe God doesn’t give us these testimonies to condemn us, but to challenge us to grow in our walk with Him. That has been my response to my re-reading of The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. If you have not heard of or read this book, please get a copy!

Although I sometimes dislike reading about the painful past of wars in history, and I especially hate what happened during the Holocaust, this book is about so much more than that! This is a testimony of how Jesus turns loss into glory.

The ten Boom family members were sold out to Christ, even if it meant putting their own lives in danger. When faced with imprisonment and unimaginable pain and humiliation, they were willing to risk personal loss if someone might see Jesus in the midst of it.

It’s obvious Corrie witnessed the faith of her parents, and her sister Betsie, as she grew up. The words in this book show such spiritual maturity and influence for God’s glory:

Her mother’s words when Corrie questioned the unhappiness of an aunt: “Happiness isn’t something that depends on your surroundings, Corrie. It’s something we make inside ourselves.” These words would become so important to Corrie and her sister Betsie when they were imprisoned.
After Karel, Corrie’s secret love interest, introduced her to his fiancee, Corrie’s father said : Corrie, do you know what hurts so very much? It’s love. Love is the strongest force in the world and when it is blocked that means pain. There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.”
Her sister Betsie’s words when Corrie had a dream about her family being taken away by force: “…if God has shown us bad times ahead, it’s enough for me that He knows about them. That’s why He sometimes shows us things, you know–to tell us that this too is in His hands…There are no ‘ifs’ in God’s world.”
Betsie’s words as she and Corrie saw German soldiers arresting Jews and those who hid them: “I pity the poor Germans, Corrie. They have touched the apple of God’s eye.” She even felt sorry and prayed for her captors by name!
Betsie’s words to Corrie as they witnessed a miracle: “Don’t try too hard to explain it, Corrie. Just accept it as a surprise from a Father who loves you.”
Betsie’s words when her father died after a month in captivity, and she and Corrie were packed into a train car on their way to the concentration camp, Ravensbrook, suffering for days without food, water or sanitary provisions: “I am thankful that Father is in heaven today.” I am sure this would not have been my first response.

Although Corrie struggled while imprisoned, Betsie ALWAYS responded with optimism and joy in the Lord. Their main goal in a brutal place of captivity, was to bring light into the darkness and the joy of Christ. They risked their own lives by hiding the one copy of scripture they still had!

Reading all the ways God took care of them and provided miracles is such a reminder of His love and purpose, even when it’s so very hard for us to see. They were reminded daily, as we should be, of how Christ had given His all for them and, so, this was a natural way for them to live their lives: with gratefulness for His sacrifice.

But I think it’s what Corrie did after Betsie and their father both died, and later Corrie was released, that most impacts me. She not only forgave her most cruel guards, but even led one to the Lord. She ministered to those affected by World War II and traveled the world until she was 86 years old telling people about Jesus.

The theme of her life, and that of her family, was to show how Jesus turns loss into glory! Isn’t that what our world today needs to hear? Don’t those who persecute Christians also need the Gospel?

So, although I don’t live condemned by this message of unselfishness and joyful hope I’ve read in The Hiding Place…but, yes, Corrie ten Boom and her family challenge me. The word God has given me for two years now is “selfless,” and this family’s powerful testimony within these pages, show me how far I still have to go…in my family, in my community and in my world. So grateful God continues to teach us and loves us even when we don’t learn!

Corrie’s legacy continues to impact lives today, and so do ours when we choose to lift high and glorify Christ in a world desperate for hope. Let’s be women who continue to grow deeper in our love for Christ, so we can shine our world with His light.

I leave you with this poem Corrie often quoted. May we trust God’s purpose for our lives to follow His plan for His glory in our world today.