Image courtesy: Ten Boom Museum Photo Album, Stock Footage by Videoblocks.com
April 15th marked the birthday of the amazing woman, Corrie ten Boom. At the age of 91, on that very same date in 1983, she also passed into Heaven’s gates. According to Jewish custom, celebrating the same day for both birth and death is the unique sign of a very special individual. I think the rest of the world would agree. Corrie ten Boom was one of the godliest, soul-rich individuals I’ve ever read words from. Her deep wisdom came with the cost of journeying through great pain in this life, yet many of us have gleaned amazing nuggets of truth from her experiences. Evidence still that God uses all we walk through in this world for greater purposes and good, more than we could possibly ever imagine.
The ten Boom family were Dutch Christians who helped many Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust of WWII. When their home was raided after an informant tipped off the Nazis of their activities, the entire family was imprisoned. Corrie and her sister were sent to a notorious Nazi concentration camp. She was miraculously released from prison just days after her sister had died there. God brought incredible beauty and healing through her difficult experiences, and her words still have great relevance and impact in our world today. She authored a number of books and was most famously known for The Hiding Place, the incredible story of her life. The title refers to the secret place where the family hid countless Jewish people needing help in their home and is based on this scripture, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word” (Psalm 119:114).
Certain themes run through her greatest quotes over and over again – truths we need reminding of in all we face today – Forgive, Love, Trust God, Don’t Worry, Pray.
"You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have."
“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 that love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.”
“Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future. I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work he will give us to do. ”
“And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things too. Don't run out ahead of him.”
"Love is larger than the walls which shut it in."
“Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him....Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness....And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on his. When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives along with the command, the love itself.”
“If the devil cannot make us bad, he will make us busy.”
“You will find it is necessary to let things go, simply for the reason that they are too heavy.”
“Some knowledge is too heavy...you cannot bear it...your Father will carry it until you are able.”
“Don’t bother to give God instructions, just report for duty.”
“You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”
“God takes our sins – the past, present, and future, and dumps them in the sea and puts up a sign that says NO FISHING ALLOWED.”
“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”
“Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”
“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…it’s something we make inside ourselves.”
“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”
“In darkness God’s truth shines most clear.”
“What wings are to a bird and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul.”
“With Jesus, even in our darkest moments the best remains and the very best is yet to be…”
“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”
“It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.”
"This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."
"Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees"
“The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.”
“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”
"If God sends us on stony paths, he provides strong shoes."
"Worry is like a rocking chair: it keeps you moving but doesn't get you anywhere."
"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible."
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
“Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.”
“There is no panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.”
“When I try, I fail. When I trust, he succeeds.”
“God never measures the mind… He always put His tape measure in the HEART.”
“Let God's promises shine on your problems.”
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.”
“Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.”
“Now, I know in my experience that Jesus’ light is stronger than the biggest darkness.”
“Discernment is God's call to intercession, never to faultfinding.”
“The first step on the way to victory is to recognize the enemy.”
“Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”
Crosswalk.com: Leave It to Corrie Ten Boom to Change My Whole Perspective in Just 5 Encouraging Quotes from crosswalkcom on GodTube.
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
According to its description on Amazon, "Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century. In World War II she and her family risked their lives to help Jews and underground workers escape from the Nazis, and for their work they were tested in the infamous Nazi death camps. Only Corrie among her family survived to tell the story of how faith ultimately triumphs over evil.
Here is the riveting account of how Corrie and her family were able to save many of God's chosen people. For 35 years millions have seen that there is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still. Now The Hiding Place, repackaged for a new generation of readers, continues to declare that God's love will overcome, heal, and restore."
Corrie ten Boom’s amazing life and journey remind us still today how to live strong and love well through the hope and freedom of Christ. May we press on in that wisdom, moving forward with the same forgiving spirit that typified this courageous soul. Don’t let the enemy hold you back. No matter what we walk through, God has good in store.
Debbie McDaniel is a writer, pastor's wife, and mom to three amazing kids (and a lot of pets). Join her each morning on Fresh Day Ahead's Facebook page for daily encouragement in living strong, free, hope-filled lives. Find her also on Twitter and at her blog debbiemcdaniel.com.
Publication date: May 21, 2015