Faith, Hope and Love – Corrie Ten Boom

Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-40

Faith

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for”. 

“By faith Abraham, even though he was past age-and Sarah herself was barren- was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise”. – Hebrews 11:1,2,8 

Sometimes Hebrews 11 is called the Faith Hall of Heroes. Corrie ten Boom is often called a faith hero as well. But one could wonder if she would have called herself a faith hero. Yes, a faith warrior, a faith witness, even a tramp for the Lord. But she most probably would have refused to receive credit for being a hero. 

In her first book, ‘Prisoner and Yet…’ she writes: “We do not need great faith, we need faith in a great Lord”. 

Faith is not a feeling, neither is it the intellectual acceptance of facts and truth. Faith is a dependence on God, through acts of obedience and trust. We can do this because He has offered us a solid foundation of grace, forgiveness, loving kindness and power. And He is an ever-present Help in trouble. 

For four months Corrie was in solitary confinement in the Scheveningen prison. The threat of interrogation, torture and feeling desolate were continually present. One day, she literally stands with her back against the prison wall and shouts in despair: “Lord I’m not strong enough to endure this. I do not have enough faith”. Then her eyes are drawn to a tiny ant that hurries to a small hiding place: a crack in the wall to get safety from the water that is flowing over the prison floor. The Lord speaks to Corrie and says: “Watch the ant, hurrying straight to her hiding place. Corrie, do not expect anything from your ‘great’ faith, it is as weak as an ant. I’m your Hiding Place, the rock-solid ground on which you can stand. You can always, immediately and everywhere, come to Me, your Hiding Place. Then you will have peace and you can face the unknown, trusting God. I will never leave you, nor forsake you”. 

To reflect upon
You can learn more and more not to trust in your own faith, facts and feelings, but to only trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Feelings will come and go, and they can deceive you. But the Lord and His Word are reliable, you can always stand on Him and His promises. 

Prayer
Thank You, Lord it is not about my ‘great’ faith but about You being a great Lord!

Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-29

Hope

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”. – Hebrews 12:2 

Oh… how we can long for the “good old days”. Everything was so much better and more predictable. What was normal and taken for granted in those days is not that obvious anymore. It could make us sad and homesick, and we could tend to give up and become passive and depressed. 

In Ezra, chapter 3 we can read that the elderly people are crying as the temple is rebuilt, remembering the glory and grandeur of the former temple that has been destroyed so many years ago. 

After the Second World War Corrie could have been discouraged, giving up, without any hope for the future. Her father, Casper ten Boom, and her sister, Betsie, both had been killed in 1944. And the happy days of before, in their warm and cozy home, had forever been gone. 

She could have looked back, remembering and longing for the good old, and so much better times before the war. Realizing it would never come back she could have sunk into a great depression and sorrow. But instead, she looked forward with hope, fixing her eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of her faith. 

Hope is not the same as longing and desiring. We can long for things that are impossible to fulfill, such as, a season that will not come back, a journey we cannot afford to make, longing for a loved one who has passed away. Hope, on the contrary, is based on reliable facts. There could have been periods and events in our life for which we look back with unfulfilled, craving and longing. But the better thing to do is to look forward, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Then we can go forward, with courage and hope. That is what Corrie, and many with her, did after the war, building on the foundation of Christ and His Kingdom. Romans 5:5says: “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us”.

Question

• Do you get discouraged at times, looking back all and longing for the good old days? 
• What are the facts in the Word of God which you can rely on and have hope in, and that can help you look into the future with faith and good courage? 

Prayer
Thank You, Lord that we can look forward to the days ahead with trust and confidence, because “You are the same, yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Scripture: Hebrews 13:1-25

Love

“Keep on loving each other as brothers”. – Hebrews13:1

Ravensbruck 1944. A young Dutch woman is in the hospital barracks, giving up hope. Where there remains no courage to live, the body gives up. Though it is absolutely forbidden to go into the hospital barracks, Corrie and four other Dutch women try to go as close as possible to the young woman to encourage her, motivated by compassion and love. They know which window she lies behind. When they arrive, the shutters are closed. So, they pray that someone will open the shutters. One of the guards walks by and opens them. But then the window is locked and they cannot open it from the outside. They pray again and a Polish nurse opens the window from inside. Now Corrie walks to the window and starts to encourage the young woman. Again, the guard walks by and slaps Corrie hard on her back. Corrie goes back to the four other women, and they pray that no one will walk by anymore. Then Corrie continues to comfort and encourage this young sick woman and reminds her of the fact that Christ is Victor and that He is always with her. 

Thirty years before, Corrie’s father had given her the key to love and compassion. At that time, Corrie was crying her eyes out, because the young man, whom she loved dearly, unexpectedly came to her house and introduced his new fiancée to her, which tore down all her dreams and hopes to share her future life with him. Her father, after a while, climbed up to her bedroom, sat next to her and waited until she calmed down a bit and said: “Corrie, love is the strongest force in the world. When love is hold back, we can do two things: we can either silence and kill love so that no one can hurt us anymore or we can ask God to open other ways to share our love. If we cannot share love in the normal, human way then God can teach us to love in His perfect way and pour out His love in our hearts”. 

To reflect upon
God is Love. Again and again, He can find ways through which we can love our neighbor. “We love because he first loved us”. (1 John 4:19)

Prayer
Father, people at times can hurt us so deeply, especially the people we love so much. It can destroy our love and we can become so bitter. Thank You, that You will come with comfort and compassion, to heal us and create new and refreshing ways through which we can share Your love with others.

—

Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) Faith, Hope, Love

During the Second World War Corrie ten Boom and her family worked in the resistance in the Netherlands. They helped about 800 people. Many of them were Jews. Corrie was betrayed and spent 10 months in imprisonment in Scheveningen and in two concentration camps, Vught and Ravensbruck. After the war she travelled all over the world to talk about God’s love, forgiveness and grace. Corrie came from a Bible-believing family. The Bible, God’s written word, took a central place in their lives. Through it, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word, spoke to them. They read the Bible daily and knew many Bible verses by heart. 

Dientje Wiersma is a tour guide at the Corrie ten Boom house in Haarlem in the Netherlands. She wrote this ‘Faith, Hope and Love’ Reader’s plan. She took Bible verses that were very important to the family through the generations and wrote about the importance and applications of these Bible verses in the lives of the family Ten Boom. 

A question, reflection and prayer in the end might help you to see the significance and application of these verses in your own life as well, at the beginning of the new year.