Reflections: Life Lessons from the Book “The Hiding Place”

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God” – Corrie Ten Boom.

This is an important truth to remember. Corrie Ten Boom’s story has really encouraged me so today i want to pass along some life lessons I have learned from the book The Hiding Place. This book tells Corrie Ten Boom’s story from her childhood from growing up in holland in the midst of World War I and World War ii and tells the story of her and her family’s part in helping to hide jews from the German enemy, to being taken captive to a concentration camp and making it out on the other side learning about patience, faith, joy in suffering, love and forgiveness and the faithfulness of God.

Patience and faith

Corrie had to learn about patience even as a young child. She had to wait for answers to questions that would be too heavy to carry the answer to as a child. When she became an adult she had to learn to be patient while waiting in prison not knowing what would happen next. In order to have patience you must also have faith, faith that God is in control and is able to provide the answer to your question at the correct time. Her faith grew each time she faced a challenge in life as she saw the hand of God in every situation. When faith grows your patience also grows.

I am learning this lesson in my own life. When I become inpatient about something in my life I find it is because my faith is wavering. I am learning that I may not be ready to carry an answer to my question and I must trust that God will provide me the answer when I am ready. This lesson is helping me to stop and wait on God instead of doing things my way and in my time frame.

Joy in Suffering

Joy in suffering is another lesson found in this story. We see this in Corrie’s mother. She suffered a stroke that left her unable to do much but she never lost her smile or her serving attitude. She still found a way to reach out to others and be a help and encouragement even in her state. We see this in Betsy who could find a way to decorate even something as gloomy as a prison cell. She always tried to find the good in even the worse situation.

This has shown me to have a mind set that tries to find the good in whatever situation I am in. This is only possible when we know that God is with us. This also can only happen when we learn to be thankful for everything that comes our way whether it is a bad or a good thing.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV — In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Image has a shadowed tinted to it especially on the corners.

Love

Learning to love the way God loves is an important lesson to learn. Corrie had to learn this throughout her life. She had to learn to love karl the way God loved him. She had to learn to love those that took her and her family captive the way that God loved them. This lesson took time and much tears to learn but it is worth it.

This is something that we can not do on our own, only God can mold us and help us love our enemy. We can only truly love when we realize that God loved us first. God also loves those that are our enemy. I am still learning this lesson, learning to love those that hurt me because God still loves them.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is another important lesson in this story. Corrie has to learn to forgive her enemies even as they caused the death of her loved ones. There is so much power and healing in forgiveness and she got to leave a positive impact on many people after she was free but it was a journey to reach that place.

I am learning what it truly means to forgive and that it is only possible to forgive when you realize how much God has forgiven you. God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and his blood that he shed was enough to cover for to forgive the sins of each person that comes to him in faith. Jesus rose to life again and all a person needs to do to be forgiven is to ask Jesus to save them believing that his blood paid the price of their sin and they will be forgiven. We can forgive our enemies and let God handle the rest.

The faithfulness of God

The faithfulness of God is evident time after time in this story. We see it in how he provided for Corrie and her family. We see it in how he provided a hiding place for the jews. We see it in how he took care of Corrie and her sister even in the worst situations of being in a concentration camp. We see it in the strength he gave Corrie to go on when facing the loss of her loved ones. We see it in the love and healing that took between those that were once enemies.

This has shown me to keep trusting God because he is faithful and his love is unending and he will lead me in all aspects of life. He will provide all that i need at the exact time not a day earlier or later. He is my strength when I am week.

Some extra thoughts

I hope that you will read the entire book because I believe that it will change your life for the better. I hope that you will give God a chance to change your life for the better.

You can find more quotes from Corrie and from the book here.

Reflections: Four Women of the Bible that Inspire Me

Text reads inspiring women of the Bible. There are pink flowers around the text.

Role models and mentors are great to have and they should not be taken for granted. We all have those people that we look up to in life and in honor of international Women’s Day i want to share four women that inspire me. My faith plays a very important role in my life so I have chosen four women from the Bible that inspire me.

Esther

Esther was a young Jewish woman who became queen of Persia after winning a beauty pageant put on by the king to replace the former queen that had been banished from the kingdom. Mordecai, Esther’s guardian tells her to hide the fact that she is a Jew. Later on the second in command to the king named Haman draws up a plot to kill mordecai and the rest of the Jewish people. He was angered because mordecai refused to bow to him in honor. Mordecai discovers the plot and manages to warn Esther. Esther is faced with a life threatening decision to have to approach the king without an invitation. This action could have ended her life as the action of approaching the king without being summoned was a crime that was punished by death. She was brave and approached the king and he let her speak and eventually made 3 banquets for the king. She was eventually able to reveal the plan devised by Haman to kill mordecai and the Jews revealing to the king that she was also a Jew. The king had originally agreed on the plot to kill the Jews as he was persuaded by Haman but upon learning the truth of the matter along with an interesting twist at the end, he revises his order to now permit all the Jews to come together and fight their enemies. I suggest that you read the entire story to understand it all. Read the story beginning here.

Esther inspires me because she found the courage to speak up and stand in the gap for her people. God was still working behind all of it and his faithfulness is seen in this story but Esther took hold of that moment and used her voice. I hope to be like Esther and with the help of God be able to use my voice to help others.

Ruth

I have always loved the story of Ruth. She chose to stay with her mother in law when her husband died. She chose to follow God. She worked hard to provide for her mother in law and herself and she never gave up on life. God provided a new husband for herlater on and a son.

I hope to have the strength, loyalty and courage that Ruth had. She faced each challenge and never gave up. You can read the story of Ruth beginning here.

Abigail

The story of Abigail may not be a popular Bible story but she caught my attention from the first time I read her story. She was married to a very foolish and angry man and in the story she prevents him from making a bad decision that would lead to tragedy. In the end God rewards her for her wisdom. She endured marriage to a bad tempered man but at the end he died of a heart attack or something close to that and she ended up marrying David. David had sent men to Abigail’s husband to prepare for his arrival but her husband rudely dismissed them. The actions angered David and he was soon on his way to destroy the entire household. Abigail was notified of her husband’s actions and her wise actions saved many lives. She went out to meet David and his men with many gifts and pleaded for her household to be spared. This helped to change David’s heart and he did not go on with his plans. Her husband died shortly after.

I hope to be a wise woman as Abigail was and to be humble and have the courage she had in life. You can read the story here.

The woman with the issue of blood that lasted 12 years

This story can be found in Mark 5 verses 25-34. The woman had been bleeding on for 12 years. She went to all the doctors and tried every remedy but nothing helped. She was brave enough to reach out to Jesus for help. She only touched the hem of his garment and was healed.

I hope to be brave enough and reach out when I need help. Sharing our weakness makes us strong. Women out there, do not be afraid to reach out for help. Jesus Christ is there for you.

Some extra thoughts

I hope these stories have encouraged you and that you can find a role model in these women. For more examples of godly women that are living in our world today check out Gently Led Sisters on YouTube.

*the image of pink flowers behind the text is by Pixabay from Pexels.

Reflections: Rooted in Jesus Christ

March is Women’s History month. I recently read a Bible plan geared to women and it was very encouraging to me so I want to pass it along. The plan is called Becoming a Well-Watered Woman in a Parched World. This devotional showed me what it means to truly be rooted in Jesus Christ. Here are some important points that you will find in this plan.

The only way to make it through this uncertain and stressful life is to be rooted in Jesus Christ. When we are rooted in Christ we can make it through the storms of life.
Your identity must be found in who God says you are. Do not let the world with Hollywood and other aspects of society shape you. God made you the way you are and what God has made should not be questioned.
The truth is that only God can fill the hole in our soul. This life and all it may offer will never be enough to truly fill or complete a person.
In order to be rooted in Christ you need to spend time taking in the nourishment of his Word. Spending time with God in his Word each morning is necessary to be rooted down deep in Jesus Christ. Yes you are saved in an instant it is a gift of God but growing closer to God takes time.
You may reach a point where walking with God becomes almost like another chore. Do not be discouraged, instead seek to include God in all aspects of life. Spending time with God should not be another chore but try to keep God in your thoughts during your entire day.
Remember that you are still growing as a flower grows. There is still much to learn but you need the proper nourishment and care to keep growing so take your walk with God one day at a time.
Walking with God is not a 1 mile sprint. This is a lifelong journey. Salvation happens in an instant but your growth takes a lifelong journey.

This message of course applies to women and men and I hope this will encourage you. It is a 7 day plan and I encourage you to read it. Let me know what you thought of it below.

*The image of the green ferns border is by Jordan Samchez via Unsplash

Reflections: A Wonderful Friendship

This month is sometimes considered the month of love and friendship due to Valentine’s Day being on the 14th of February. This month can also remind some people of the fact that they are alone if they are not near family and friends. This pandemic has only increased the number of people that are feeling lonely.

There is a cure to this feeling of loneliness. Jesus Christ is the answer. He is available to be a friend and is available at all times. When you put your faith in him and ask him to save you from hell forgiving you of your sin he then becomes your closest friend. The hymn “What a Friend we have in Jesus” is a great reminder of this friendship.

Jesus Christ is the one we must go through to reach God. God listens to our prayer when we have trusted in his son Jesus Christ. Jesus cleans our sins and he also takes on our sorrow. He is a constant friend. He understands the pain we face on this earth and he can relate to us with any issue we face in life.

He is there to give peace and rest. He is there to comfort us in the hard moments.

When you feel sad or alone like no one understands remember this hymn and let it encourage you. If you are in a season without friends Jesus is there for you and he is available at every hour of the day or night. Take heart things will get better.

Photo credit: the image forming the border (not including the text) is by Marketplace Designers

Reflections: The Value of Friendship

Have you ever taken a moment to stop and reflect on the value of friendship? A good friendship is one of those gifts in life that you can not put a price on. A good friendship should not be taken for granted.

Friendship is filled with joy, encouragement and honesty with a strong bond.

Friendship is an aspect that I have had trouble with throughout my life. I am someone who is very quiet and very shy so it has always been hard for me to reach out to people and be friendly. I was the young girl in the school playground that sat alone on the side. I only half way made 2 friends in the fifth grade but that did not last. The same thing went on throughout my school years and I am still on a quest to find a good friend at age 34. Some of this may be due to my vision impairment but I am still trying to figure things out.

I do not want to be discouraging by sharing this but i just want to point out that not everyone gets the opportunity to find a good friendship.

I know that I have a lot to work on when it comes to finding a good friend and it is a serious decision to make as a friend can become even closer than family. If I ever do find a good friend I will try not to take them for granted.

I would rather have one or two good friends that truly understand me and that I truly understand than a large group of friends. I hope to be able to learn to be a good friend and to be friendly to others.

I wrote these poems on friendship and I hope it will help you reflect on the value of friendship and help you appreciate the friendships you have.

Joy of Friendship (Original Poetry)

Poem text reads The joy of friendship
A wonderful give and take
The priceless moments. Text is in script on a white background

Friendship (Original Poetry)

Poem text reads Love thicker than blood
With an unbreakable bond
The love of a friend. Text is in script on a white background

Here are some helpful Bible verses on friendship.

Proverbs 17:17 KJV — A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 18:24 KJV — A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:6 KJV — Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Proverbs 27:17 KJV — Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Be an encouragement to your friend and encourage each other on this journey through life.