The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

The Hiding Place

Corrie Ten Boom

Published 1971

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This has been on my to-do list for two weeks. Today we are stuck at home awaiting Hurricane Ian, and everything has been shut down for at least two days;  I suppose this is a good time to write.

The Hiding Place is a gem. This is a memoir, a history, and a faithful testimony to God's grace, mercy, and power combined into a fast-paced Holocaust narrative. Corrie Ten Boom lived in Holland during the occupation of the Nazis and participated in smuggling and hiding Jews in, out, and around Holland. She lived with her elderly father and older sister, Betsie, running a very successful watch and repair business on the ground floor of their three-story home. They were Christians, and they consistently and daily practiced their deep faith of loving their neighbors. Hence it was no surprise that during the occupation, Corrie, Betsie, and her father, as well as the extended family quickly became involved in the "underground," doing all they could to protect Jews from the Nazis. 

But the story is not about the underground operation. It is about what happened after the operation was exposed and they were all arrested. After three months in solitary confinement, only Corrie and Betsie were sent to a political concentration camp and later Ravensbrük. It was then that Corrie began to understand and learn more about the Hand of God, particularly through the faith of Betsie. Keep in mind, Corrie grew up in a faithful household and very well knew the Lord; however, it is through trials that faith grows and matures, and that is the lesson of The Hiding Place.

LESSONS AND THEMES

Normally, I like to do a narrative of the books I read, including spoilers, but I am not in a position to do that right now, given all that is going on about me. But I want to stress how important this story is to people, even today. This is truly what loving one's neighbor looks like. Even the world likes to use the phrase; and I ask you, "Is this what their version of 'love your neighbor' looks like?" I doubt this is what they mean. 

Love your neighbor is so difficult and impossible without God. Loving your neighbor means sacrificing your comfort, safety, and well-being in exchange for the comfort, safety, and well-being of others. Loving your neighbor means forgiving your enemies. How many of us can do that? Betsie demonstrated to Corrie how to pray for the ones who beat them, cursed them, and hated them. Betsie showed Corrie how to love their enemies. Forgiveness is a major theme of the story, and with forgiveness is love, as well as God's power.

Of the examples about forgiveness, love, and God's power, Corrie said: 

And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness and more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on HIS. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself. 

Other exceptional truths from this story include how perfect God's timing is; how He uses people and events for His purpose; how He rewards obedience, especially for telling the truth; and how we cannot do anything difficult apart from Him. Naturally, we do not want to do anything hard; but if we first obey, God gives the power to do so, and later our hearts will follow. (This is why follow your heart is bad advice.)

Taken from the preface of my copy, there are other lessons to learn from The Hiding Place, such as 

• handling separation
• getting along with less
• security in the midst of insecurity
• how God can use weakness
• facing death
• dealing with difficult people
• what to do when evil wins.

On that last point, Corrie asked within the story this pertinent question: "How should a Christian act when evil [is] in power?" If that is not a relevant question today, I am not sure I know what is. 

I will share this: the title The Hiding Place has two-fold meaning. The first is that the Ten Booms used their home to hide Jews, yes. However, the most beautiful meaning is another major theme, and it is that God is our hiding place. 

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path . . . Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word . . .

WHO SHOULD READ THIS?

The Hiding Place is essential reading for Christians to be encouraged about how to live in an evil world; however it is good for non-Christians to read, too, because so many complain that they know Christians who live as hypocrites. Many do. And it may be because they are not truly Christian. If you want to know what a true Christian looks like, learn from the Ten Booms. Don't get the wrong idea from a hypocrite. 

Finally, I will leave you with a statement Corrie made about recalling the past. She said:

But this is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. 

(Don't listen to those who shun history - or the past. History is absolutely necessary to the present! Learn it!)