Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

• Proverb 3:5-6

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”
…
If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;

• Psalm 91:1-2, 7-9

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

• Isaiah 6:8

“One night during Germany’s invasion of Holland, I lay in bed while dogfights raged overhead, streaking my patch of sky with fire. At last, I heard Betsie stirring in the kitchen and went down to join her.
…
“Somewhere in the night, there had been an explosion. For an hour, we sipped our tea and talked until the sound of planes died away, and the sky was silent. I said good night to Betsie and groped up the dark stairs to my bedroom. … I felt for my bed and found the pillow. In the darkness, my hand closed over something hard. Sharp too! I felt blood trickle along a finger.
“It was a jagged piece of metal, ten inches long.
“I raced down the stairs with the shrapnel in my hand to show Betsie. We went back to the dining room and stared at it in the light while Betsie bandaged my hand.
” ‘On your pillow,’ she kept saying.
” ‘Betsie, if l hadn’t heard you in the kitchen-‘
“But Betsie put her finger on my mouth. ‘Don’t say it, Corrie! There are no ifs in God’s world. And no places that are safer than others. The center of His will is our only safety. Oh, Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!’ ”

• Corrie ten Boom, God is my Hiding Place

“The center of God’s Will is where I am safest.  I am under the protection of the Most High.”

• Corrie ten Boom, Highlighted Quote

Boilerplate

In this new mini-series, I will be looking at a devotion that is said to be written by Corrie ten Boom.  Really, this devotion is like several that I had read.  They come from the writings of that person.  Thus, the prayers at the end may be the editor’s addition to what Corrie ten Boom actually wrote.

Each of these posts will include the suggested verses to read, a quote from the writing that came from a Corrie ten Boom book (five in all according to the copyright page, but no chapter in the book is given the specific book of origin).  I will also include the highlighted quote, similar to an internet quotation, and I will end with the quoted prayer for that devotion.

Discussion

I recently used the photo above in a post, explaining how a derecho had blown over the house where I live.  There was minor damage that was easily fixed or replaced.  Other than I was outside as the storm approached, barely getting inside before the first lightning strike, I was not in much danger.

I have had much closer brushes with death.  Within the first twelve months of writing this blog, I wrote a post about Brushes with Death.  There were other close calls that I did not mention.

As I pointed out in that old post, before I had gotten in the groove of writing, sometimes when we survive such situations, God is saving us for His purpose.  At least, we should ask ourselves that with each of those “brushes with death.”

But here, Corrie saw that if she stayed in bed while the fighting raged in the skies above them, she could have died.  When this occurred, Corrie was forty-eight years old.  The German invasion of the Netherlands was shortly after her birthday and Betsie was her older sister.  It was not as if she had not experienced life yet.

But as she portrays Betsie in her books, Betsie taught her a great deal about faith and God’s Grace.

Yet, if Corrie had died that night, she would have not written a book about how God had helped her survive a Nazi concentration camp.  She would not have dedicated her life after the war in service to God, spreading the love of Christ around the world.

While sometimes we see a reckless individual who barely misses the grave in countless mishaps, Corrie just lived the life of a Christian.  The reckless person makes us scratch our heads wondering how they are so charmed and wondering how they will make their own end, but Corrie lived an exemplary life, part of it being the reason for her imprisonment.  Even her release from the camp is characterized as a clerical error.  The prisoners were supposed to be killed, but a “young girl” officer, maybe a Hitler Youth at the end of the war, had Corrie march forward, out the gate, instructed to not look back.  There has never been an explanation offered as to why she was spared due to a “clerical error.”

We will all die someday.  I even think of the Rapture being a form of dying.  We see Jesus coming in the sky and our soul, with a new body, arises to meet Jesus in the sky, rather than our old corruptible body.  At that moment, I doubt if we would notice the technicality.

But if we are not that reckless, and yet, we have had brushes with death, we should be asking God, “Why me?”, but before God answers, we need to follow the question with, “Here I am.  Send me.”

Closing Prayer

“Father, keep me safe and lead me according to Your wisdom. As I follow Your will, regardless of how unstable the road may seem, I know You will be by my side. You will shield me with Your glory. With every step of obedience, You will make the path clear. In Your kindness, You will save me. In opposition, I know You will protect me, strengthen me and turn every evil thing around for good.”

• Corrie ten Boom, God is my Hiding Place (prayer for Day 8, In the Center of God’s Will)

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.