One of the rights listed in the UDHR is the "freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom...to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.of religious expression." Corrie Ten Boom's memoir, The Hiding Place, offers us one family's experience of how their religious faith both propelled them into suffering and sustained them through it.
For this reading response, I want you to think about what The Hiding Place teaches us about faith in suffering. Choose two moments from the book and demonstrate how Corrie Ten Boom's experience provides an illustration of the value and role of faith during intense hardship. Make sure to make connections between the two instances you choose: do we see her faith develop over the course of the novel? How so? How does her faith operate differently under different circumstances? What do we learn about the faith of the characters in each instance, but also, what do we learn about God's faithfulness?
This response is due by the end of the day on Tuesday, Feb. 14 (I will say a few things in class about how to write these responses, so I'd encourage you to draft a response and then come to class and see how you might revise.)
The intersection between faith and suffering are significant themes in The Hiding Place. For the focus of this reading response, I will specifically shine light on how on how Corrie draws on the sufferings of Christ, as well as the forgiveness Christ gave those to who caused offense served as a catalyst in the shift in Corrie’s faith and her perspective on God’s presence in the midst of horrific circumstances. This change is most evident in her time spent in Ravensbruck and when she forgives one of the S.S. officers from Ravensbruck.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter thirteen, Ravensbruck, the first instance of immediate suffering that the reader witnesses is the humiliation of having to be inspected without clothing. Corrie states, “As few desks further along she had to strip off every scrap of clothes, throw them onto a second pile, and walk naked past the scrutiny of a dozen S.S. men into a shower room” (203 In particular, Corrie seems to struggle in her faith to see the good in people when they commit such evil offenses. As Christians living in a fallen world how can we see everyone made in the image of God when they cause so much pain? Corrie illustrates the struggle in trying to reconcile these concepts. She states, “It grew harder and harder. Even within these four walls there was too much misery, too much seemingly pointless suffering” (206). However, it is this revelation of the turmoil in Ravensbruck that shines light on how Corrie begins to see even the good even in horrific situations.
Corrie recognizes how her communion with God is growing despite the horror of the external life in Ravensbruck. By contrast, the internal life with Christ “grew daily better, truth upon truth, gory upon glory” (206). This is when Corrie’s perspective on her circumstance begin to change-and she draws on the experience of Christ. In relation to being inspected naked-she draws on the experience when Christ “hung naked on the cross” (207). In addition, Corrie learns that despite the evil that is present in her circumstances, we must give thanks to God in all things because he is good and his creation is good. It is Bestie notes this heart of gratitude towards Corrie. She tells Corrie that we must give thanks in all circumstances. Thus, we begin to see a transition of hate and grief about their situation to gratitude. Overall, Corrie’s faith in Ravensbruk shift to a recognition of how God is present even in the times of pain and suffering, to gratitude in all circumstances. The reader can note how Corrie is learning how to “be a prisoner of circumstance” yet live her life in a way redeeming the good even in a bad situation.
The second time the reader recognizes Corrie being challenged in her faith is when she demonstrates forgiveness to the S.S. guard-whose post was at the shower in Ravensbruck. Previously in Ravensbruck, the reader recognizes Corrie’s internal shift in her faith. The forgiveness she demonstrates to the S.S. officer offers an opportunity to see her internal shift in faith become actualized. Corrie sees the S.S. officer at a church service in Munich, and the S.S. man thanked Corrie for her service and wanted to shake her hand. However, Corrie kept her hand at her side. We see an immense internal struggle to forgive this man of all the pain he has caused. This is the climax in Corrie’s faith-to see evil in the world, see God in the midst of such evil, have a heart of gratitude even when evil is being done to you and to forgiving those who have offended you. Corrie ask God to help her forgive this man, and finally ask Jesus to give him His forgiveness. When Corrie shook the officer’s hand she felt “ a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me” (248). Corrie comes to the revelation in her faith that God provides the love itself needed to forgive. This is a universal truth for all Christians-if we are willing to put our hand out and forgive those who cause us suffering, God will give us the strength to love one another.
I think that in The Hiding Place the picture of faith in suffering is really presented all the way through the novel. As Christians we should obey God’s law, however, we should also obey people in charge on the earth. Therefore, I can not imagine how hard it must have been for the Ten Boom family having to make this tough decision of weather or not to help jews, because it included lying, as well as stealing. Since the beginning of the book you can say that the Ten Boom’s have a good heart, and are very devoted to their Christianity, which sets a scenario for the whole book. The Ten Boom’s seem very confident on what they are about to start doing, however, what really impressed me was right before they started receiving jews, when Betsi expressed that inside she was afraid, but what really should be done was not what she wanted, but what that the Lord would give them strength to do what was right.
ReplyDeleteCorrie gains strength and even more courage when she starts receive and hide jews at the Beje. Her character develops from a shy, and nervous to say things in the wrong time, to a brave, and courageous character, especially when she tells Fred Koornstra the truth about what she has been secretively doing, and asks for 100 ration cards. I think that Corrie really sticks with the passage of the bible that her father used to read in Psalms 119:114, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word,” all throughout the book. Although, in chapter 14, when Corrie and Betsi are still at the camp, Corrie is letting her faith aside, so she starts to think that little secret sins are okay. She soon realizes that that thinking like that is not what God wants. Corrie, in one of her non-feeling bible reading, comes across a passage which changes her, when Paul asks God to take away his weakness and God tells Paul to rely on him. Later Paul sees his weakness as something to be thankful for, and Paul comes to know that it not his own strength, but God’s. With that, Corrie now has another passage to hold one to. With that we can see that Corrie’s faith really develops through the hard suffering times.
Betsi’s character demonstrates the faith she has in god, as well as that God will take care of her sister. I think that God’s faithfulness is shown when Corrie leaves the concentration camp and is able to open a place that her and Betsi had dreamed of, to help people who did not have other place to go, and with that being able to share the gospel with those people.
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom brings us to a time of the Nazi invasion and occupation of Holland. It teaches us how to surrender to faith when our rights as a human are taken away from us. As readers throughout the book we grow with Corrie and deepen our understanding on what it means to suffer for faith. In fact, we learn that the things we have doesn’t necessarily make us happy, but rather the things we have in us are the main key to our happiness.
ReplyDeleteWhen we have faith we are able to see beauty even during the intense hardship such as Holocaust. In the beginning of the book Corrie learns an important lesson from her mom about where to find happiness. It is the time when she ask her mom if they can do anything that will lead to happiness of Tante Bep. She thinks perhaps allowing Tante Bep to have a visit to the last family she lived with will make her happier. However her mom doesn’t think that way; she says, “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings, Corrie. It’s something we make inside ourselves” (50). Meaning that our circumstances do have an effect on our happiness but you can choose to be happy even in bad circumstances. Corrie learns how to respond back with love to the harshness of prison and concentration camp. She does not allow her life circumstances to keep her away from seeing the beauty that can be found in faith.
The important lesson on how to find happiness and beauty by having faith helps Corrie to survive the Holocaust. Partly it was having her sister Betsie with her that helps Corrie to continue to grow in her faith. Betsie reminds Corrie the important lesson when fleas shows up in concentration camp. Betsie says “‘Give thanks in all circumstances,’ she quoted. It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us” (210). At first Corrie does not understand how her sister can be thankful and show happiness about such things as lice and fleas. But later on we learn that through fleas the beauty, faithfulness and goodness of God is being brought to the concentration camp. Once again the life circumstances can be bad, however happiness does not depend on our surroundings but our faith.
Corrie’s faith develops over the course of the novel. She comes to learn how to put her faith into action. she allows God to carry her heavy burden of having both her and her loved ones to be treated in an inhuman way. We need to understand that in order to be happy we should put our faith in God and allow him to direct us. For our world is broken, human rights are ideal but not always realistic. But God is a solid rock where we can stand and see the beauty of creation.
The Hiding Place teaches many things about faith in suffering. Corrie and her family suffer everyday, but their faith keeps them going and keeps them strong in the midst of terror and uncertainty. One event that stood out was when Corrie and Betsie were taken over by train to Ravensbruck. Conditions were getting much tighter. The group of women were being abused and degraded by the men in charge. Corrie is able to save a bible by bundling it under her clothes and sneaking it past the guards’ before they had to strip down for their health inspection. Corrie comes to the conclusion that the undetected bible is a sign from God that he is in control of the situation. Ravensbruck brings new difficulties and terrors, including an earlier roll call and close proximity to the punishment barracks with the screams of tortured humans. Corrie asks God to carry the knowledge of such suffering, which is too heavy for her to carry alone. ““Dear God,” I prayed, “You have given us this precious Book, You have kept it hidden through checkpoints and inspections, You have used it for so many--” (203-204). The bible becomes real for Corrie. She becomes deeply rooted in the word more than ever before. She began to visualize Christ’s suffering more vividly now that she too has suffered. She understands that God is still faithful through all circumstances.
ReplyDeleteAnother significant event in the book was when Betsie dies in the Ravensbruck Hospital. Betsy's health is on a decline as they are held as prisoners. Though the conditions of this are tough and unbearable, Corrie and Betsy stay strong the best way they knew how; by faith. As Betsie’s health was worsening, Corrie covered her tracks. When they had to stand up for role call, Corrie would hold her sister up because she knew she would get beaten if she didn’t. (Chapter 14) They barely had enough food to survive, and eventually, Betsie does not survive. They were both going through all of this trauma and chaos, but still remained strong in their faith. They believed that through all of this, speaking life into others and staying faithful to God was most important. They could have just given up because of their circumstance, but they did not. I couldn’t imagine living in that environment, and being treated as nothing; invisible. I do not know if I could still stay strong faithfully if my world was crashing down around me. When Betsie did die, Corrie felt peace that she no longer had to suffer anymore. “And so I left behind the last physical tie. It was just as well. It was better. Now what tied me to Betsie was the hope of heaven.” (p.230) I believe in this moment her faith was unbreakable. This moment for me was beautiful. I have a younger brother and to think about that pain of losing a sibling is unbearable all together. But to see how grateful she was that her sister was no longer in pain even though she had lost her, moved me.
I think The Hiding Place shows that even in the midst of a storm, God can carry us through. When we are down and it seems that there is no hope, God is greater. Faith can always prevail if we allow it. Both of these events made the whole book in my opinion. They teach many lessons that only experience can bring. We learn much about the faithfulness of Corrie and of God’s. If we did not go through hardship we would not know what it was like to have a good day. These events teach us that in the suffering, we can look forward and see the light at the end of the tunnel. We can look forward to an eternity with our Savior, in His presence. Reading this book put these things into perspective. I have not gone through a quarter of what Corrie and her family go through and I complain about my life. I appreciate Corrie’s life and her character in the novel. She is a true woman of faith, and I can only aspire to be half of the woman she had become.
The interaction of faith and suffering in the book The Hiding Place are fundamental parts of what makes the book so intriguing. For the sake of the Reading Response, I will be focusing on two aspects of this theme to help draw out an illustration for the faith and suffering that Corrie Ten Boom was experiencing in this memoir. At the beginning of the book, the reader could tell that Corrie was not as big into the whole faith thing as her sister Nollie was. A key point of development for Corrie’s faith was when she realized that Nollie would rather tell the truth about what was going on, than lie and go against God’s will. Not only does this allow Corrie to grow but the result in what happens with Nollie’s choice is truly astonishing to Corrie. Another point in the memoir that really changes the way that Corrie thinks about her faith is towards the end, when she is released by accident and not long after, the prisoners were starting to be killed.
ReplyDeleteThe experiences that Corrie Ten Boom and her family went through were some of the hardest times that a person has ever had to go through. Darkness and hopelessness were the main things that people during this time felt. Once they were found and taken to the concentration camps, the little freedom that they previously had vanished. In doing so, the suffering of the families and people in the camps increased because of the way that the hopelessness affected them. “How often it is a small, almost unconscious event that makes a turning point.” While Corrie was in the camp just before the mix up happened that got her released, she was growing in her faith because of the suffering that everyone including herself was going through in the camps. Not only did the faith grow in Corrie, but it also grew in the prisoners because of Betsie and Corrie spreading the faith.
Another key point in the growth of Corrie’s faith is when her sister Nollie, decides to tell the truth about keeping refugees and getting them caught. Although there was a big moral dilemma in the way that Corrie felt about this (because she felt like the lying was the best way to handle keeping everyone around them safe). Nollie told Corrie that not only would Analiese be fine, but that she would be released. When this happened, it shifted the faith in Corrie and the reader could see it develop much deeper like her sister’s. “Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way . . . God can give us the perfect way.”, This quote shows the reader that not only could God help everyone who believed, but also that the faith in God is the key to being the best that you can be. Another quote that shows the way that Corrie Ten Boom’s faith changed over her suffering and dreadful experience is “In darkness God's truth shines most clear.”. This quote shows the reader that not only does God’s light break away the darkness but it becomes much easier to understand what God is wanting to them to do in his name while they are surrounded by pain and suffering.
The Hiding Place is an account of triumphant faith. Cornelia ten Boom is raised in a christian household and encouraged by her family, specifically her father, to seek refuge in God. In the first few chapters, when she is young, the development of her faith is dependent upon her father’s scripture readings. As the memoir continues, Corrie’s relationship with God flourishes. Thus, it is observed her faith becomes solidified through hardship, emphatically during times it is arduous to forgive.
ReplyDeleteForgiveness is a command of the bible. If one does not, his or her heart hardens and grows bitter. Ephesians 4:31-32 states, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Calling christians to remember the gruesome nature of Christ’s forgiveness of humanity, Paul instructs the church to abandon negative feelings towards a brother or sister through forgiveness.
Corrie is first challenged with this difficulty as a developing young woman. Karel, the man she loved since the age of fourteen, broke her heart. The two discussed their future together and all of the joy she accumulated throughout their romance is obliterated when he introduces his fiance. Devastated, Corrie retreats to her bed to sob. Her father comforts her, encouraging her to forgive Karel and offer God the pain he caused in her heart and surrender the romantic love she felt for him. Corrie accepts this advice and proceeds with an enormous prayer, “Lord, I give to You the way I feel about Karel, my thoughts about our future - oh, You know! Everything! Give me Your way of seeing Karel instead. Help me to love him that way. That much”(42). Upon asking God for the strength and ability to forgive Karel, Corrie is overcome with peace and falls asleep. This is the first account of Corrie calling upon the Lord for assistance, specifically for the ability to forgive.
Succeeding this prayer, Corrie’s faith is tremendously tested and fortified as she surrenders all fears and doubts to God. This is increasingly incredible when one reflects upon the circumstances she suffered through: the ambiguity of illegally housing jews, enduring concentration camp conditions, and encountering those who abused her in society.
In the end of the memoire, Corrie is addressed by the former S.S. man who guarded the shower room door as she entered Ravensbruck. Upon seeing him, her traumatic experience in the camp invoked her to feel anger and a desire for vengeance. When he approached her in thanks for her message in the washing room, He washes sins away, he offered his hand, wanting to initiate a handshake. Corrie recognizes her vehement anger is sinful and prays to God for the strength to forgive and accept the handshake. When her prayer is answered and she shakes his hand, she feels the warm love of God move within her. This invokes her to feel immense compassion for the man who previously stood and laughed at her and Betsie’s naked bodies. After a continuous, traumatic experience, Corrie finds God does not only provide strength and joy in times of desperation and melancholy, but in healing as well. She recounts, “And so I discovered it is not on our forgiveness any 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”(224).
Throughout the progression of the Hiding Place, the reader observes Corrie abide by God’s calling in her life. Additionally, he or she witnesses God sustain Corrie in times of hopelessness. Where God is, there is hope and healing. For Corrie, healing begins with forgiveness.
Faith is putting complete trust or confidence in what cannot be seen. After reading The Hiding Place, we can see that Corrie Ten Boom goes through trails and struggles in her life that puts her faith in God into a series of tests. Often, it is through hardships in life that we are able to see the strength of our faith. Throughout the entire book, Corrie’s faith has constantly been tested, thus, shaping her into the strong and independent woman she was at the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteAn example would be the inner battle Corrie had to fight with the anger she had with Jan Vogels. In Chapter 9, we can see that she is struggling to forgive the man that betrayed her family. The tone of that chapter illustrates the confusion and distress that these events have put her in. Having a been struggling with a fever for a few days, she is physically overwhelmed by the events that are constantly occurring in her life. But being caught and separated from her family pushed her into a devastated state. Through the tone of the chapter, we can sense the anger she had stewing inside of her. But through her strong faith in God, we quickly learn that she was able to lift her anger and confusion to the Lord. She realized that God has been preparing her for this day, “Then I recalled. The vision. The night of the invasion. I had seen it all” (101). Though it was hard for her to understand at the moment, we later see that it is by going through these events that allowed her to grow and strengthen her faith. She grew into a woman of forgiveness, and discovered the truth in loving her enemies. Though it is not through her own power, but through the power harvested from God.
Another example of the series of tests that she had to go through is in Chapter 14. As the cold increased in the concentration camp, Corrie described how the temptation of being selfish and to think only of oneself increased. As she pushed through the crowd to make her way towards the middle of the crowd, she was at a constant battle with herself. “And even if it wasn’t right- it wasn’t so very wrong, was it? Not wrong like sadism and murder and the other monstrous evil we saw in Ravensbruck everyday” (248). She knew what she was doing wasn’t right, but it wasn’t “so very wrong” either. Though she continued holding worship sessions, we see that she struggled to teach and worship under the environment. Referring back to the bible, she realized that Paul went through his “thorn in the flesh”, and decides to learn from him and put her reliance on God. After changing her mindset, that was when real joy reentered her worship. By picking up on her mistakes, she was able to transform her mistakes into an opportunity of growth. Which allowed her to connect with God by building her own spiritual and emotional hiding place.
Overall, we can see how Corrie’s constant reliance on her faith allowed her to set herself apart from the world she was in. Though her surroundings were filled with imprisonment and negativity, she was able to rise above all and use her faith as her hiding place.
The unimaginable suffering that Corrie Ten Boom would cause a lot of people to become bitter and lose their faith. Seeing the horrors and injustices did not cause her to lose faith, but she depended on it. There are two instances that especially show the strength of faith in these situations. The first major example was when the two sisters arrive at Ravensbruck and are “processed” into harsh prison life. They are stripped, tattooed, and had their belongings taken from them. The last scraps of dignity they would have, as humans would be violated with further humiliation and cruelty. Any person would feel abandoned by God in these times and hopeless. Although this is easy to imagine, Corrie’s faith was stronger than the horrific events happening around her. There was a moment where she is meant with the difficulty of her surroundings. As she and the other many women were forced into inconceivably small barracks, she begins to view the situation around her as her own. “It grew harder and harder. Even within these four walls there was too much misery, too much seemingly pointless suffering…will You carry this too Lord Jesus?”(206) She questions the lord intentions, and weather or not He is still with her through so much pain and suffering. Although she questions in times of complete suffering, she believes that she and her sister are there for a reason. She continues to believe that God is in control, and that although that the intense hardships she was enduring, the Bible continued to be the center of help and hope. The darker the times meant that the brighter the light shined in His glory. In the end, she refers back to Romans 8:35,“Who should separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us”. She tells of how the love of God is far greater than the hardships of any time. This shows the strength of Corrie’s faith and how her faith is unshakable in the hardest of times.
ReplyDeleteAnother example that is a major occurrence in the story was when she realizes that Betsy has died. Although very devastating like the last example, this one is different because it shows the hope that she continues to have when she’s lost someone whom she loves. Loss is devastating; especially when it’s your only companion you have through hardships. The moment after she realized that her sister died, she looks her in the face and exclaims, “Lord Jesus-what have You done? Oh lord, what are You saying? What are You giving to me?” (229) Devastated Corrie is asking God what his intentions are to give her such suffering. Although it may seem reasonable for Corrie to feel anger with God, she still holds onto her faith. She exclaims with joy that her sister would be in heaven free, healthy and happy. She leaves behind her things, saying that she hopes to see Betsie in heaven. An emotional part of the book that may be viewed as a loss that Betsie was not able to make it out of prison, Corrie views it as a triumph, since God has her life in his hands. This is another very important scene in Corrie’s life where her faith is stronger than the grief and hardships that surround her.
Corrie has definitely grown in faith tremendously in this book. We know this by her inability to be unshaken of her faith during these hard times. Her faith was her focus, her lifeline and her hope. These two instances are different in aspects of what kind of hardships are being administered, but what is important about these tow different scenarios is that she continues to have trust in God. I think it is important to see how God’s faithfulness in Corrie kept her alive, and how her trust in him was stronger than her experiences in the concentration camp. This story shows how important it is to trust in God and to continue to follow him throughout the hardest of times.
The most intense form of suffering I thought Corrie endured was when she was put in solitary confinement. She is forced to be alone with just her thoughts and anxieties about her situation. She is put into solitary confinement in the most gruesome condition. She is left wondering what she did to be separated from the others. During this time, her fever worsens, so workers carry food to her and give her medicine for a week. When she asks the prison workers if they have news of her family, she is threatened with kalte kost (torture chamber). At the end of the week, an inaccurate thermometer shows that Corrie has no fever and she stops receiving care. The guards ridicule her for lying on the cot all day, calling her lazy.
ReplyDeleteIn solitary confinement she has time to reflect and regrets leaving her prison bag and fears for the future. She decides that she would leave her prison bag again if it meant protecting the people in the hiding place. Corrie is able to enjoy a glimpse of blue sky through one of the prison bars. She soon regains her health. When her eyesight regains strength, she begins reading the gospels. She admires the gospels and applies her dark situation alone in prison. She realizes that Jesus had been defeated in a similar manner, but his defeat ended in victory. Corrie takes comfort from this knowledge. So, as Corrie is suffering in prison, she realizes that her situation is comparable to Christ and what he did for His people, just like she took a stand for her people in the hiding place.
Another form of faith in suffering, is more of an emotional hardship that I think is very important, and may be overlooked. Corrie will never marry. Corries learns to confide in God after her heartbreak over the only man she’s ever loved, Karel. It took her a while to come to terms with it, but she realizes that it was God’s interest for her to be unmarried. On page 65, she says “Now I was 27, Betsie in her mid-thirties, and I knew that this was the way it was going to be: Besie and I the unmarried daughters living at home in the Beje. It was a happy thought, not a sad one.” This is when she has come to terms with her future. This chapter stood out to me because I can’t imagine what it would be like to live in an unfit financial and physical conditions, and because of it, not being able to marry the person that you love. In chapter three, Corrie explains one of her greatest disappointments and greatest lessons. Corrie falls in love with Karel whose parents want him to marry a rich and well connected woman. She even daydreams about him. Corrie survives her experience of heartbreak and matures into a conscientious and compassionate adult. She gets through this difficult time with the help of her father, and God. It must be really hard to see the man you love, marry someone just for money because Corrie did not have wealth. I feel as though after Karel breaks Corrie’s heart, she learns a valuable lesson. Her father explains that there are many different kinds of love. The experience of unrequited love teaches Corrie to love unconditionally without expectation of return. This helps her in the future when she is caring for others. Although Corrie feels no resentment towards Karel, she thinks of him often. She tries to remember to offer her love to God. This unconditional love helps Corrie reconcile her fate as a single woman.
The Hiding Place helps to show its reader the importance of faith through hardships. Corrie’s religion and desire to aid the Jewish people eventually gets her family in trouble, and leads to their suffering in prisons and death for many of them. On the other hand, this same faith also keeps their spirits high and allows them to believe in a higher cause during extreme hardships. The Ten Boom family learns to have faith in suffering and remember that God has a purpose and a plan for everything that happens in their lives.
ReplyDeleteThere were two specific moments, both found in chapter 13, where Corrie’s faith is strengthened and the value of faith is exemplified. On page 209, Betsie and Corrie read a passage from First Thessalonians that says, “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus…” Betsie realizes they need to thank God for everything. Corrie struggles with this idea, especially when Betsie gives thanks for the fleas, but she eventually comes to understand that Betsie is right. The Ten Boom sisters remained faithful during an intense hardship. Instead of giving in and complaining about their horrible circumstances, they flipped their entire perspective and started to have a thankful attitude. While some of the other women around them struggled with their situations, faith in a real, living God allowed the Ten Boom sisters to remain positive during an unimaginable hard situation.
The second place in chapter 13 where Corrie’s faith in suffering is grown is on page 214. Betsie and Corrie have a bottle of Davitamon that never seems to run out of medicine. Betsie compares this to the story in the Book of Kings where a widow’s oil jar never became empty. Corrie again struggles to believe this is actually a miracle from God as Betsie attempts to explain to her that this is a gift from their Father in Heaven who loves them. When a nurse brings them vitamins, the bottle of Davitamon runs out of drops. It is at this moment that Corrie considers that maybe Betsie was right all along. Through this story one can see the value and the power of faith. Corrie, and especially Betsie, remained faithful to God, and he therefore remained faithful to them. During intense hardship, faith in God can result in miracles which provide a way to get through these hardships.
In the beginning of the novel, the idea of faith and its role is shown. In chapter 2 on page 44, when Corrie is concerned after seeing the dead infant, her father comforts her by saying that God knows exactly when we are going to need things and when the time comes for death, you will find the strength you need to get through it. This foreshadows how Corrie will have to deal with death later in the novel. In chapter 2, she questions how she will handle her circumstances, however by chapter 13, her faith has grown to the point where she is able to find ways to get through her current situation. Under different circumstances, Corrie’s faith is different. Before she is in prison, she prays to God asking for help and her faith is solid. However, later she grows in her faith because she realizes that her faith is the only thing that will get her through her current hardships. We see that Betsie’s faith remains extremely strong through the entire novel, and it is through this strength that Corrie realizes the importance of faith. God’s faithfulness can be seen in the scene where they never run out of medicine. He stays a constant source of encouragement in the novel as He continues to find ways to take care of the Ten Booms, especially since they have taken care of those who are less fortunate. Looking back on The Hiding Place, it is easy to see that the idea of having faith even through hardships brings grace and encouragement.