The Center of His will is our Hiding Place

Last night, I went to a performance of "The Hiding Place". It was performed by a group of young people known as the Jeremiah People. In the spirit of a review, I will tell you that this small group brought to life the story of Corrie ten Boom and her family and their sacrifices and risks for the sake of an oppressed people in their beloved Holland during the occupation by Germany and World War II. 

They struggled with fears and finding enough provisions for all that they hid in their clock shop and home and they saved a number of them from a fate at the hand of the Nazis in concentration camps or worse. But in doing so, they placed themselves at risk for the same fate, and indeed, they were arrested and Corrie's father died about 10 days after their arrest and her sister, Betsie, died after several months in Ravensbruck concentration camp. 

But Betsie and Corrie learned that the Jews they'd hidden survived still hidden until a sympathizer was able to get to them and move them to other locations. And they rejoiced in that.

During their imprisonment, Corrie and Betsie endured horrible treatment at the hands of their captors and guards. For every sympathetic guard or act of kindness, there were dozens of beatings, insults and cruelties. Her spirit was gravely injured as well as her physical well-being. By the time Corrie was released, she was full of anger and hatred against her captors.

But God had a plan for Corrie. He used her to speak all over Holland, first, and then in Germany about the sustaining power of her amazing God. In one of those churches in Germany, she met a man who introduced himself as a new Christian, but a former guard at Ravensbruck. Corrie remembered him. She remembered him laughing at Betsie when she could hardly walk. And she remembered the smile on his face as he beat women. When he offered his hand to her, she couldn't lift her own. In desperation and with the realization that she needed to forgive this man because of God's commandment and for her own sake, Corrie cried out in her heart for God's help. And slowly, she found herself able to take the man's hand and felt the forgiveness flow through her.

And so it is with us. Has someone wronged you? Undoubtedly. Is forgiveness difficult? Most likely. But when we fail to forgive those who wrong us, it doesn't affect them in any way. Instead, we punish ourselves by becoming bitter and resentful. Those emotions rob us of our joy and our ability to see the blessings in our lives. Someone recently asked my pastor how we know when we've really forgiven someone. It's when you can pray for that person and genuinely ask for God to bless him. 

Usually, forgiveness isn't instantaneous. It is a process of several steps, but I encourage you as we approach Easter which is the celebration of the greatest act of forgiveness known to man to seek to forgive those in your life who have wronged you. And then, if you have not accepted God's forgiveness for your own wrong actions and thoughts, please do so. Allow His Son to give you the gift of His sacrifice that makes you right with God. There is no other way to that forgiveness, and even the "best" person in the world has made mistakes and is as guilty in the eyes of God as the worst criminal. As a Christian, I am no better than that criminal either because I continue to make mistakes and sin in my daily life. The only difference is I know I am forgiven. My prayer is that you experience that same assurance in your life.