God is deeper still

Last week I watched The Hiding Place (1975). The book this film was based upon was instrumental in bringing me to faith in Christ, and so both film and book hold a special place in my heart. In case you are unfamiliar with Corrie ten Boom's story, here is a summary:

Corrie and Betsie ten Boom are middle-aged sisters working in their father's watchmaker shop in pre-WWII Holland. Their uneventful lives are disrupted with the coming of the Nazis. Caught hiding Jews in their attic, they are sent to a concentration camp, where their Christian faith keeps them from despair and bitterness.

There is one line from the film that always moves me. Betsie, frail and sick in their lice-infested barracks, tells Corrie, "There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still."

When I look at the world around us, when I see and hear the hatred toward Christians, toward western nations, toward Americans, I wonder what the future will bring for my children and my grandchildren. And then I remind myself that my God is God and nothing is too difficult for Him. There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.

When I opened my Streams in the Desert this morning, it addressed trusting God in difficult situations:

Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?  (John 11:40)

Mary and Martha could not understand what their Lord was doing. Each of them had said to Him,  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  (John 11:21, 32). And behind their words we seem to read their true thoughts: “Lord, we do not understand why you waited so long to come or how you could allow the man you love so much to die. We do not understand how you could allow such sorrow and suffering to devastate our lives, when your presence might have stopped it all. Why didn't you come? Now it’s too late, because Lazarus has been dead four days!” But Jesus simply had one great truth in answer to all of this. He said, in essence, “You may not understand, but I am telling you that if you believe, you will see.”

Abraham could not understand why God would ask him to sacrifice his son, but he trusted Him. Then he saw the Lord’s glory when the son he loved was restored to him. Moses could not understand why God would require him to stay forty years in the wilderness, but he also trusted Him. Then he saw when God called him to lead Israel from Egyptian bondage.

Joseph could not understand his brothers’ cruelty toward him, the false testimony of a treacherous woman, or the long years of unjust imprisonment, but he trusted God and finally he saw His glory in it all. And Joseph’s father, Jacob, could not understand how God’s strange providence could allow Joseph to be taken from him. Yet later he saw the Lord’s glory when he looked into the face of his son, who had become the governor for a great king and the person used to preserve his own life and the lives of an entire nation.

Perhaps there is also something in your life causing you to question God. Do you find yourself saying, “I do not understand why God allowed my loved one to be taken. I do not understand why affliction has been permitted to strike me. I do not understand why the Lord has led me down these twisting paths. I do not understand why my own plans, which seemed so good, have been so disappointing. I do not understand why the blessings I so desperately need are so long in coming.”

Dear friend, you do not have to understand all God’s ways of dealing with you. He does not expect you to understand them. You do not expect  your  children to understand everything you do — you simply want them to trust you. And someday you too will see the glory of God in the things you do not understand.  J. H. M.

I know Corrie and Betsie must have asked why the Nazi's came to Holland, why their father died in prison, why they were suffering in a concentration camp. But ultimately they trusted God and ceased trying to understand why.

It helps me to know I don't have to understand all the ways God. It helps me to know I don't have to understand why God's blessings sometimes seem so long in coming. I will simply trust in my Abba-Father, the great I AM, right here where I am today.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

Comments

[Kathy]

I agree. The Hiding Place is an amazing book! What an inspiration!
"All our times are in God's hand- even the difficult ones." (C.T.B.)
"A person must also learn the ability to do nothing." (Her Father)
So much wisdom!! Thanks for the reminders! I needed it today!

[Terry Whalin]

Robin,

What a great post today. Thank you. BTW, have you ever written your faith story for Decision magazine? With your connection to something related to BGEA, it's worth thinking about with their large audience. Another idea--they are a dime a dozen for writers.

Thanks again,

Terry
Book Proposals That Sell

[Kansas Bob]

I posted something about Corrie and forgiveness a few days ago and I forgot to come back and thank you for the inspiration ... I actually didn't give you credit for the inspiration until today - sorry about that. Blessings to you Robin.