A LIFE WELL LIVED – CORRIE TEN BOOM

There are some whom we encounter in our life’s journey and wonder at them. Life doesn’t deal fairly with them, and they go through all the worst of hell in their lives, yet they walk it all with a heavenly perspective. This doesn’t mean they were spared of pain, anguish and agony. Nay, they go through all the worst hell can throw at them, but with their eyes firmly set of the Author and the Finisher of our faith, the LORD Jesus Christ. Such people come out of their hellish experience richer, and with something very precious to teach the rest of us. 

Cornelia Arnolda Johanna “Corrie” ten Boom, has precisely this experience, and we are richer by her experience of hell. Praise be to the LORD for the life of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch watchmaker’s daughter, from the Dutch Reformed Church.

Corrie ten Boom, was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 15 April 1892, as the youngest of the four children of watchmaker Casper ten Boom and his wife, Cornelia ten Boom-Luitingh. In 1924, at the age of 32, Corrie became Holland’s first woman licensed watchmaker.

During World War II, the family of Corrie ten Boom helped rescue Jews in the German-occupied Netherlands. In February 1944, her family was arrested and imprisoned in the Scheveningen prison. Corrie and her sister Betsie were later sent to the Herzogenbusch-Vught and Ravensbrück concentration camps, in Germany.

Sara Krych writing about Corrie ten Boom, pens these words in her article, “Quick Biographies : Corrie Ten Boom.”
– “For a year and a half, Corrie and her family were the hub of a network of courageous Dutchmen fighting against the Third Reich. When she was finally captured, God used Corrie to minister to other prisoners, miraculously preserving her hidden Bible, supplying medicine that never ran out, and, in his providence, infesting her barracks with fleas so she and her sister could lead Bible studies uninterrupted by the German guards who were reluctant to enter the room. She witnessed and experienced unspeakable horrors, never losing sight of God’s love for her, her fellow prisoners, and even her cruel supervisors.” – Sara Krych

What defines this resolute Dutch lady, who stood firm in her faith in the face of such inhuman cruelties and an experience of the very hell itself is her unwavering and steadfast faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. There is so much to learn from her life. Here under are a few that I could glean from the life of Corrie ten Boom. 
1- “A POSITIVE OUTLOOK” BASED ON BIBLE’S TEACHING TO TRUST GOD AT ALL TIMES.
– “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength…Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” – Corrie ten Boom

2- “FORGIVENESS” OF ALL, INCLUDING THOSE WHO HAVE HURT AND HARMED US. 
– “Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.” – Corrie Ten Boom

3- “LOVE OF GOD” THAT SHOULD GUIDE OUR CONDUCT NOT OUR HURT, PAIN OR REVENGE.
– “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.” – Corrie Ten Boom

In one of her speaking engagements in Germany after the end of the Second World War, Corrie meets one of the prison guards in that meeting. She beautifully describes the raw emotion, the struggle she went through, and the real pain and anguish of putting her words on godly forgiveness and our love for the enemy, into action, is worth reading.
– “And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. / It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!…this man had been a guard at Ravensbrück concentration camp where we were sent. / Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!” / And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? / But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze. / “You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there.” No, he did not remember me. / “But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein”–again the hand came out–“will you forgive me?” / And I stood there–I whose sins had every day to be forgiven–and could not. Betsie had died in that place–could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? / It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed [like] hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. / For I had to do it–I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. “If you do not forgive men their trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” / I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience…Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that. / And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. / “Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.” / And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. / “I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!” – Corrie ten Boom

May the life of Corrie ten Boom, a dynamic Dutch lady, inspire us to live our faith vibrantly for our LORD, despite all the hurt, pain and anguish in our lives. Our lives are far more precious and priceless to God, and He wishes to use our experiences to help those who are struggling in their lives.
– “3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Will we willingly allow God to use us to bless His children, and build the Kingdom of God? Even so, the LORD help us.