Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Chicken Soup for the Soul cocreators Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen with Chris Karcher
ABC's Dr. Timothy Johnson,
Finding God in the Questions, and Chris
.
Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator, and Chris Karcher
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Spiritual relationship help &
Building self esteem
Trust God’s plan
Fleas. I find the idea of being thankful for fleas outrageous. But Corrie ten Boom reveals she learned to be thankful for them in her wonderful book, The Hiding Place.[i]
Ten Boom and her devout Christian family hid Jews from the Gestapo in their Holland home. A sting operation exposed their participation in the Dutch resistance movement. The Gestapo raided their home and confined them to concentration camps.
Fleas infested the concentration camp in Ravensbruck, Germany, where ten Boom and her sister Betsie were sent. Toilets overflowed. It reeked from the foul odor of poor plumbing and sweat. Rags hung for windows instead of glass. Stains spotted the bedding. Conditions were so cramped ten Boom felt her sister’s heartbeat as they slept.
And yet, Betsie received the message “give thanks in all circumstances.”[ii]
Only three letters bother me about this teaching: A-L-L.
Obediently, Betsie gave thanks for their surroundings, including the fleas.
The women gathered nightly to worship and read from a Bible smuggled in by ten Boom. The prison was temporarily transformed into a sanctuary, swathed in peace.
Oddly, the guards did not enter the women’s living quarters, which freed the women to worship in secret. One day the women learned why: The fleas kept the guards from entering the room!
God sent the fleas, ten Boom reasoned, so the women could escape the madness during worship.
How do we “give thanks in all circumstances”? By trusting in God’s plan—even while living among fleas.
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Copyright © 2003 by Christine N. Karcher. Chris Karcher is the author of Relationships of Grace, Amazing Things I Know About You, and Relationships of Grace Workbook. To order books and tapes, schedule Chris for speaking engagements, or subscribe to Chris’ newsletter, visit www.relationshipsofgrace.com, email order@relationshipsofgrace.com, or call 1-877-GET-GRACE (1-877-438-4722).