Thankfulness in the Midst of Trepidation (a.k.a. Reflections on Corrie ten Boom)

Yesterday we watched a Torchlighters video about Corrie ten Boom. It is animated and not graphic but it was certainly intense and revealed a reality to my kids that is so foreign to them...suffering, war, injustice and the choice to stand up and help someone else at great risk to your own self, your response after being wronged even to those who have caused your despair and misery, asking if God is even present during these times and if so, why have they happened. This is heavy stuff. 

Then this morning we were reading in 2 Corinthians 1...Paul is talking about the God of comfort and comforting others and then says in verse 8:

"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many."

It was such a great opportunity to have seen the movie yesterday so we could stop here and acknowledge that even though we personally have not felt this kind of persecution or hardship in our lives (at least yet) Paul did, Corrie ten Boom did, millions of people around the world still do. 

Corrie's sister had told her to be thankful for the awful fleas and lice in their prison bunk and she didn't know if she could be thankful for such misery. But they soon realized the Nazi guards did not come into their block house because of the bugs and with a smuggled in Bible they were able to have Bible sessions twice a day with 700 women.

I told the girls to imagine how much these verses could have meant to them there and in that place. And to note that Paul said "as you help us by your prayers." We have a responsibility to those in need to help them physically and with our prayers. 

These things don't happen by accident. Corrie ten Booms parents laid a foundation that they never dreamed would be needed for her to survive a death camp in World War 2. God's Words were there and helped her not only survive but to reach so many others with His comfort and truth and grace. We have to be intentional about what we pour into our children. There will be a day in their lives they will need to stand on that foundation and draw from the truth that has been poured into them.

(Erin Metcalf)