Surrender

'When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.' (1 Peter 2:23)

Betsie was never very healthy and had to be careful with her energy. The merciless hard work in the camp was too much for her. One day they had to fill baskets with the debris from airplanes. Betsie is sick and very weak and can only work very slowly and take the very small amount of debris. One of the guards sees this and severely scolds her and commands her not to be so lazy.

Bestie replies in a very friendly way: “If you allow me to do it in this slower speed then I can do the work, otherwise I will not be able to do it”. The guard reacts furiously and starts to beat Betsie severely. Corrie gets so angry when she witnesses her gentle and meek sister be so severely mistreated that she really wants to kill the guard so much that the other women have to hold Corrie back, so that she cannot attack the guard. When the guard walks away, Betsie says: “Corrie we must not hate, but forgive. I pity this guard, because her destiny will be far more miserable than ours when she does not accept the Lord Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of Lords.”

Though Betsie is much weaker than Corrie physically, she is much stronger spiritually. She is a powerful, inspiring and prayerful witness to many in the camp. When a riot brakes out in their barrack between two women, which could cause severe repercussions, Betsie starts to pray fervently until peace is restored in the barrack. She is a great support, example and comfort to Corrie. Betsie dies in December 1944. But when the war is over, it is this testimony of Betsie’s faith and surrender to the Lord in terrible times that Corrie takes with her when she travels all over the world to tell the people that “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” It is a message of hope, not to hate but to forgive. This hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, Whom He has given us. (Romans 5:5)

To Reflect upon:
Though suffering can be very severe and unbearably difficult, we can entrust ourselves to Him Who judges justly. It is through Christ alone that we will be able to avoid retaliation and refrain from revenge.

Prayer:
Thank You, Lord. You supply all we need during suffering and difficult times and we can entrust ourselves to You Who judges justly. Amen.

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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 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.

Do you want to know more about Corrie ten Boom? Go to www.corrietenboom.com