Part one in a series of advice Casper ten Boom gave his little girl.
Corrie pulled the covers right up to her chin. She tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. Beside her, Nollie lay quietly.
With a tired sigh, she shut her eyes. She could see the Hoog’s baby as clearly as if she were looking into its cradle again. It was so still – as if it were sleeping, but it wasn’t sleeping. She remembered how cold the little fingers had felt and…
She screamed.
In a moment, the door of the little room swung open. “Corrie?”
Casper ten Boom had been making his way up the stairs to tuck his daughters in, as he did every night.
Usually, Corrie lay still waiting for him to fix her covers, put his hand on her head, and pray over her. Tonight, she jumped up and flung her arms around his neck as soon as he sat down on the bed. Tears were streaming down her face. “I need you!” She cried. “You can’t die! You can’t!”
Nollie rubbed her eyes as she sat up, “Mama took us to see Mrs. Hoog today.” She explained. “The baby was still in its cradle. The baby who died.”
Casper lifted his youngest daughter’s chin. “Tell me, Corrie,” he whispered, “when we take the train to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?”
The answer came through stifled sobs, “Just before we get on.”
He nodded. “Exactly, and our wise Father in heaven knows when we are going to need things too. Don’t run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need just in time.”
To Everything There Is A Season
“…A time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecclesiastes iii.1-8)
As Casper ten Boom reminded his little girl of this truth, he added a comforting reminder. As you walk through each season God will give you what you need to face it.
Like Corrie, we often feel afraid. We feel weak and unequipped. But we shouldn’t.
In Matthew vi.8, Jesus said “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” If we were left on our own to face these things — life, death, planting, harvest, killing, healing etc. — we would be right to be afraid.
We are weak. We are unequipped. But we are not alone and that changes everything!
Today’s Load
In Matthew vi.34 Jesus said, “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
We are told to take each day at a time and take thought only for that day. Do you do that? Do you live in the present season? In today?
If you’re like me, you probably add tomorrow’s worry on as well. Not only tomorrow’s but also worry for the day after and the one after that. We think, plan, and worry weeks, months, and even years ahead.
In Casper ten Boom’s words, we’ve run out ahead of God. Is it any wonder that the load feels too heavy for us?
“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie ten Boom
Today’s Provision
“When the time comes,” Casper said to Corrie, “you will look into your heart and find the strength you need just in time.”
Is that true? Will God meet our needs? Will He provide?
In Genesis xxii, God asked Abraham to take his son, Isaac up to Mount Moriah and offer him up as a sacrifice. As they were walking up the mountain, wood and fire in hand, Isaac asked his father a question. He said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Abraham answered, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”
Abraham was confident God had what was needed. Confident God would provide. However, they reached the summit without seeing that provision. They built the altar, arranged the wood, and bound Isaac – still no provision. It wasn’t until Abraham raised the knife to kill his son — the son on whom all God’s promises rested — that the Angel of the Lord called out to stop him.
Only in the moment provision was needed was provision supplied. Then, just as Abraham said, God provided the lamb for the burnt offering – the ram caught in the thicket.
God’s provision for Abraham came just in time – it wasn’t early and it wasn’t late.
Let’s follow Abraham’s example and trust God will provide. Let’s take Casper ten Boom’s advice and not run ahead of God. Let’s live in today, carrying today’s load with today’s provision.
In Christ
Quiana
*Scripture references in NKJV unless otherwise noted.
*The story above is written in a historical fiction format but is entirely based off of Corrie ten Boom’s own account as she recorded in her book, The Hiding Place.
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