My teenage daughter, Becky had not been feeling well, and I
had just obtained an interesting book. I
decided to read out loud to her to help take her mind off her pain.
The book was intriguing so each evening, thereafter, before
she went to bed, I read a chapter to her.
It took us almost 3 weeks to finish the book, but it was something that
touched both of our hearts. Briefly, the
outline of the story is as follows.
Behind a bedroom closet, in the Ten Boom home, a secret room
served as a hiding place for rescued Jews.
From there, they were smuggled to a safe place away from the German
occupation of the Netherlands
Only thirty inches deep, the tiny hiding
place could hold up to eight people! Access was provided by a small hatch door.
Upstairs, waiting Jews occupied several unused rooms, ever-alert for the sound
of a buzzer. In the event of a raid,
this system would warn them to rush to the hiding place!
Food was rationed but Corrie ten Boom was able to secure
additional ration books to smuggle food for those she rescued.
Because of her efforts, many Jews were saved
from being killed! She and her sister,
suspected of hiding Jews and breaking rationing rules, were eventually arrested
and sent to prison. Their Christian
faith kept them from bitterness and despair, even as they suffered from hard
work, from vermin, and from lack of food.
With small pages of the Bible that had been hidden in
Corrie’s clothing, she and her sister were able to hold Bible studies without
interruption from the guards. A flea
infestation in their prison quarters guaranteed that guards would not bother
them! The fleas provided a HIDING
PLACE
Corrie’s sister died in prison, but Corrie was eventually
released and returned home. She began to
write, and soon after, the book The Hiding Place was published.
I find it interesting that the Bible speaks of various
hiding places, and secret places of many types.
In Exodus 2:2-3, the mother of Moses hid the baby three months.
“And when she could not longer hide him at
home, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with
pitch, and put the child therein; and she hid
it in the flags by the river’s brink.”
The morning newspaper of Joshua’s day might have read, “Harlot
Hides Spies!”
Joshua 2:6 says, “Rahab
had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid the spies with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order
upon the roof.”
God always has a plan.
You are not hidden from the Lord, and He knows your every step. You may
not be able to write a book as Corrie Ten Boom did, but you can let your light
shine where you are.
This brings us to one final thought about secret places.
Jesus encourages us in Luke 11:33, not to hide our candles, (our testimony) but
rather to hold our light high, allowing it to shine where all may see our witness.
No, let us not be ‘Secret Christians’ but let
us be among those one who vibrantly share their faith with others!
This post is shared with Charlotte
