Desperate times call for heroes desperate to do God's will. Corrie ten Boom and her family were such people. These brave Christians hid hundreds of Jews in their home in the Netherlands as the Nazis expanded into western Europe. But their faithfulness carried with it drastic consequences. Nazi forces heard about their little club from an informant, and her entire family was arrested and sent to concentration camps. Corrie was the only one to survive, released on a clerical error days before the rest of the women in her camp were slaughtered.
Corrie did not squander the second chance God granted her. She has been a staunch advocate of offering forgiveness to former Nazi oppressors. Also, she has written numerous books about God's faithfulness to her family during the dark days of World War II-era Europe. "Faithful" hardly seems an adequate word to describe a God who would call a family to a risky course of action, only to reward them with an undignified death at the hands of their enemies. But somehow, through the ghastly persecution she faced, Corrie realized that it was not her job to question God's plan. She was to walk with him daily.
In a recent conversation, a friend shared with me an anecdote from Corrie's book, The Hiding Place, which helped me understand how the family remained obedient to God throughout such a perilous ordeal. Corrie remembered going to the train station with her family as a young child. She was always ignorant of the destination until they arrived. Then, her father would pull the tickets out of his jacket pocket and distribute them to the family. Corrie saw this as an allegory to her family's situation. They didn't know where their faithfulness would lead them or what it would cost, but they trusted that their heavenly father would dole out tickets when the time was right. As my friend said, if we always knew the destination, we might be afraid to get on the train.
For those of you who don't know, I'm graduating from the University of Georgia this semester. I will have two degrees and a certificate, but I still have no clue where I'll be living, working, or ministering after my May graduation date. I'm engaged to be married to Katy, my wonderful fiancee, sometime this summer. The days whoosh by quickly in a blur, like scenery out the window of a moving car. The pressures of the impending real world grow on the horizon as I near my life's next milestones. But through this time of uncertainty, I'm learning that I don't have to crane my neck to look out the front windshield. I'm content riding this college train as it slowly rumbles to a halt. I'm waiting for a ticket, and my father will give it to me when my train chugs into the station.
Corrie did not squander the second chance God granted her. She has been a staunch advocate of offering forgiveness to former Nazi oppressors. Also, she has written numerous books about God's faithfulness to her family during the dark days of World War II-era Europe. "Faithful" hardly seems an adequate word to describe a God who would call a family to a risky course of action, only to reward them with an undignified death at the hands of their enemies. But somehow, through the ghastly persecution she faced, Corrie realized that it was not her job to question God's plan. She was to walk with him daily.
In a recent conversation, a friend shared with me an anecdote from Corrie's book, The Hiding Place, which helped me understand how the family remained obedient to God throughout such a perilous ordeal. Corrie remembered going to the train station with her family as a young child. She was always ignorant of the destination until they arrived. Then, her father would pull the tickets out of his jacket pocket and distribute them to the family. Corrie saw this as an allegory to her family's situation. They didn't know where their faithfulness would lead them or what it would cost, but they trusted that their heavenly father would dole out tickets when the time was right. As my friend said, if we always knew the destination, we might be afraid to get on the train.
For those of you who don't know, I'm graduating from the University of Georgia this semester. I will have two degrees and a certificate, but I still have no clue where I'll be living, working, or ministering after my May graduation date. I'm engaged to be married to Katy, my wonderful fiancee, sometime this summer. The days whoosh by quickly in a blur, like scenery out the window of a moving car. The pressures of the impending real world grow on the horizon as I near my life's next milestones. But through this time of uncertainty, I'm learning that I don't have to crane my neck to look out the front windshield. I'm content riding this college train as it slowly rumbles to a halt. I'm waiting for a ticket, and my father will give it to me when my train chugs into the station.
1 comment:
Hey Friend,
Your post makes me think of God's faithfulness to our little family. 3 years ago this month we knew David would be graduating (but not sure if it would be May or August), which would mean we would be moving somewhere (but where?). We knew he'd applied to grad school but hadn't heard back from anyone yet. We also knew that our first child was due in May and we were committed to me being at home with our kids (and i was the main bread-winner at the time!). Well Cornell came through with a funding package that actually gave us a raise(!), Ethan was safely born, David successfully finished up and graduated in August, and we took off to NY where God has blessed us with the greatest community of believers we've ever been involved with...among other things.
Now here we are, David's about to graduate (hopefully but not definitely in May), with no job offers yet (but close, we hope!), which means we have no idea where we'll be in 5 months or specifically when...and baby #2 is due in 3 weeks! All we know is that God has always been faithful, truly abundantly faithful. And so we wait on Him to lead us to the next piece of His great property that He wants us to occupy.
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