“How good the Savior is to me! He not only helps carry my burdens, he carries me also.” – Corrie ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman who, during World War II, sheltered and hid Jews to keep them from being sent to work camps or to execution. Eventually she and her family were found out, and Corrie, her sister Betsie, and their father were themselves arrested. Corrie and Betsie ended up at Ravensbruck, one of the cruelest and most lethal concentration camps of all.

They suffered as all the others did – hard work, little food, winter cold, filthy and infested living conditions, and impossible demands. They began praying with other women, most of them Jews, and holding quiet Bible studies after the guards had gone at night. In all their suffering, they felt Jesus beside them, comforting, leading.

Betsie and Corrie talked about what they would do if they were ever released. Betsie said this, “We have learned so much here, and now we must go all over the world to tell people what we now know – that Jesus’ light is stronger than the deepest darkness”

Betsie died soon thereafter, and Corrie remained in Ravensbruck until, through a clerical error, she was released. After recovering from her ordeal, she did travel the world telling the story well into her 80’s. And what did she tell? Her hate for her captors? No. She told of the miserable conditions, but always directed her audience to the presence and power of God – to the light she had because he was with her in this dark place.

Are you in a dark place right now? You are not alone. Reach out to Jesus. You will find light in the darkest of nights.

“The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” – Matthew 4:16

Source: The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Larry Loftis, published March 2023