“You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.” -Psalm 119:114
The life and faith of Corrie Ten Boom is a powerful example of a person who was strengthen through the words of scripture. Corrie Ten Boom is the author of The Hiding Place. This novel is the story of her life under the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Corrie and her family did all in their power to resist the Nazi occupation. They were part of an underground movement, dedicated to helping people survive the evil that invaded their peaceful lives. They saved many lives by hiding and smuggling Jewish citizens to freedom.
In the winter of 1944, a local informant betrayed Corrie Ten Boom and her family. They were arrested, separated, and sent to various prisons and camps. Corrie and her sister Betsie eventually were sent to Ravensbruck, a women’s concentration camp in Germany. Corrie and her sister endured the harshest of conditions. Betsie would lose her life in that terrible place. By God’s grace, Corrie would survive the horrors of that concentration camp.
In 1971 Corrie Ten Boom would release her book, The Hiding Place. She would tell of the deplorable conditions and the inhumanity they faced in Ravensbruck. She also wrote about how God, in the midst of that concentration camp, brought them strength, peace and hope. Corrie Ten Boom would go on to write many other books, including Tramp for the Lord. She would travel the world, speaking in over 60 countries, tell all who would listen, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
When Corrie and her sister Betsy first arrived at Ravensbruck they were forced to remove their clothing, shower, and endure a search. In what could only be described as a miracle, they were able to smuggle a small Bible into the Ravensbruck. This Bible would be a source of strength for Corrie, Betsy, and the women who shared the barracks where they were housed. In the evening, they would read from this small Bible and hold times of study and prayer.
Corrie would describe the gift that small Bible was while they endured the evil of Ravensbruck. Because they were able to hold onto this Bible, Corrie would write, “When we were herded into that room we were not poor but rich—rich in the care of Him who was God even of Ravensbruck.” In the pages of that small Bible they found comfort, strength, and even hope.
She would describe the gift the Bible was to them in their barracks. Corrie said their barracks, filled with lice, fleas, and disease, were known as, “The crazy place, where they hope.” She would write, “Yes, hope, in spite of all that human madness could do. We had learned that a stronger power had the final word, even here.”
Found in the pages of the Bible were stories that brought hope, encouragement, strength, and peace, even in the darkest of times. The words of the Bible have blessed the people of God for generations. Today, we read these words to find the same hope and strength for ourselves. The words of scripture are our “hiding place” and our “shield.”
Thanks be to God for the gift of the Bible.
-Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
