Her Story Silhouettes {#25 Amy Carmichael / A Love Like Calvary}

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Silhouette:     

Amy Carmichael was born on December 16, 1867 in northern Ireland. She was the oldest of seven children born to a mill owner and was raised in a devout Presbyterian family. She received Christ as her Savior at the age of 15 while attending boarding school, and the following year her father moved her family to Belfast. One day at the age of 17 when Amy was walking home from church, she saw an old “shawlie” – lower class mill ladies who wore shawls on their heads much to the disdain of more “respectable” people who wore hats. The woman was struggling under a burden she was trying to carry, and although Amy felt compelled to help, she was embarrassed to be seen helping the old lady in view of others who were also walking home from church. That afternoon she felt the Lord speak to her directly, and she decided from that day forward she would rather be dead to the customs and fashions of this world than ever pass up an opportunity to show His love to others,

When Amy was 18 years old, her father passed away. In September of that same year, she attended a preaching conference in Keswick, England that was focused on “higher Christian life.” During the final prayer, Amy felt the Lord asking her if she could do the same as Jesus Christ had done for her and give all of herself to Him. In that moment, she surrendered her life to the Lord for Him to use her in whatever way He could. When Amy returned home, she started a class for the street kids in Belfast and showered her love on them. She also began a Sunday school class for the “shawlies.” Within just a couple of years this class had grown to the point that they needed a place that would seat 500. Through an advertisement in a Christian publication, Amy secured a monetary donation to build the building, and a mill owner donated a plot of land to put it on. She built the “Welcome Hall” where everyone was welcome no matter what their station. That same year she heard Hudson Taylor preach about the desperate need for missionaries in China, and she was convinced that the Lord was calling her into mission work. Amy was a constant witness wherever she went, and she continued working at the Welcome Hall until 1889 when she moved to Manchester where she immediately started ministering to the mill girls there.

On January 13, 1892 at the age of 24, Amy felt the Lord telling her it was “time to go.” She was sad to leave her family and her ministries but excited about serving the Lord on the mission field. Amy suffered from neuralgia which affected her nerves and made her whole body weak and achy and often sent her to bed for long periods of time. Because of this, she struggled to find a mission board that would accept her. She had trained with the China Inland Mission, but just before she was to set sail for China, they told her that her health made her an unlikely candidate for field service. She did not let these rejections deter her from what she knew the Lord had called her to do. She might have been frail in health, but she was strong in heart.

By March of 1893 she was serving in Japan as the first missionary sent out by the Keswick Convention. During her short 15-month stay in Japan she saw more converts than many missionaries saw in their entire ministry. She was disappointed when she had to make the decision to leave due to her poor health, but after a short stay in Ceylon for respite, she was commissioned by the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society to go to India.

Amy began her work by going from village to village witnessing, teaching, and training women. In 1897 she formed a group called “The Starry Cluster” that consisted of Christian ladies who went with her from village to village giving the Gospel, sharing how Jesus had changed their lives, and teaching the Bible. In 1900 Amy’s work took her to the town of Dohnavur near the southern tip of India. It was here she first became involved with rescuing children. On March 6, 1901 she met Preena, a 7-year old girl who had run away from the local Hindu temple and had come to Amy seeking shelter and protection. Preena had fallen prey to the situation many young Indian girls found themselves in when they were unwanted by their families. These girls were “dedicated” to the gods at the Hindu temples and then forced into prostitution to make money for the priests. The notion was revolting to Amy, and with her agreement to shelter Preena, she began her rescue work.

Amy started the Dohnavur Fellowship which quickly turned into a sanctuary for young girls. She wore traditional Indian clothing and often dyed her skin with coffee so as to be able to go undetected when she was doing her rescue work. So great was her love for every child that she would endure the pain of travelling long distances just to save one child from suffering. Since the value of a girl-child was very little, families soon began to give Amy their unwanted newborn girls. Amy’s Fellowship, or her “family” as she preferred to call it, continued to grow and grow. She fought hard against the Indian caste system which caused a mother to allow her child to die rather than be seen by a physician in a lower caste, and she had to withstand the disapproval and condemnation of fellow missionaries who thought she shouldn’t get so involved. Amy took on the role of mother to the hundreds of girls she looked after, and for the next 10 years her brave heart withstood extreme exhaustion, personal danger, and numerous threats of imprisonment from those who accused her of the crime of kidnapping.

Eventually Amy was able to buy some property and build a small village where she, her daughters, and her band of Christian woman were able to live. In 1918 Amy took in her first baby boy and started a village for them next to the girls’. During her decades of ministry, she rescued hundreds of boys and over a thousand girls. What started off as a home for unwanted baby girls grew to include a property of 400 acres that included homes for boys and girls of all ages, nurseries, schools, a working dairy farm, fruit and vegetable farms, and rice lands, There were kitchens, laundries, workshops, office buildings, and eventually a hospital funded by Queen Mary was added. Amy loved all her “children” and called them her precious Gems. They loved her and called her “Amma” – “mother” in Tamil.

In 1931 at the age of 63 Amy suffered a fall which left her quite crippled. By 1935 her health had worsened, and she became bedridden. She didn’t let this stop her though, and she spent her time daily in prayer, teaching, visiting with the children, and showering her love on them. All through the years, Amy continued to fight against temple prostitution, and finally in 1948 just a couple years before her death, she was able to see it outlawed. 

Although Amy died on January 18, 1951 at the age of 83, both the Welcome Hall and the Dohnavur Fellowship continue on today more than 70 years after her death. She died in Dohnavur where she had lived and served the Lord faithfully for over 55 years without a single furlough. She is buried in the garden located in the center of the Fellowship campus. The word “Amma” is engraved on a simple bird fountain that marks her burial spot . . . such a fitting tribute as it was to her so many took their flight and found in her a well of love. She is truly a woman of whom it could be said, “She hath done what she could”!

Her Story/My Story:  

Amy’s life’s goal was to make God’s love known to those around her. She often taught her children in word and in deed about the great love that God had for them even though their family and society had abandoned them. One of the 35 or more books Amy authored is called “If” and is about knowing the true love of Calvary. Here are some of Amy’s thoughts on the matter:

·     “If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If I slip into the place that can be filled by Christ alone, making myself the first necessity to a soul instead of leading it to fasten upon Him, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If I belittle those whom I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting “who made thee to differ? and what hast thou that thou hast not received?” then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I take offence easily; if I am content to continue in cold unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If my attitude be one of fear, not faith, about the one who has disappointed me; if I say “Just what I expected,” if a fall occurs, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·     “If I do not give a friend “The benefit of the doubt,” but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·     “. . . if I put my own good name before the other's highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I can write an unkind letter, speak an unkind work, think an unkind thought without grief and shame, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·   “If I do not feel far more for the grieved Saviour than for my worried self when troublesome things occur, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I make much of anything appointed, magnify it secretly to myself or insidiously to others; if I let them think it “hard,” if I look back longingly upon what used to be, and linger among the byways of memory, so that my power to help is weakened, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If I hold on to choices of any kind, just because they are my choice; if I give any room to my private likes and dislikes, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

·    “If the ultimate, the hardest, cannot be asked of me; if my fellows hesitate to ask it and turn to someone else, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

I remember when I first went to Nigeria the reaction I got each time I would go into a village to witness and invite them to church. Many of the Nigerian kids had never seen a white lady before, and I was very strange to them. One day I visited a village called Ekolaba. As I entered the village the kids that were playing outside started gathering around me and staring. They followed me from house to house, and each house we went to seemed to produce three more children for our caravan. By the time I got to the center of the village there must have been 20-30 kids standing about 5 feet from me giggling. If I looked in their direction at all, they would run and scream with laughter. None of the kids spoke English, so when I came to a house with a Yoruba lady on the porch, I said, “They don’t like my white face.”  She replied, “Oh, they like it and your long hair.”  I had worn it down that day, and so it was long and very light compared to theirs. One girl came very close and touched me. This seemed to be the go ahead sign for the other kids because pretty soon they were all swarming around me.

In situations like this, the kids would often pull at the skin on my arms, rub my face, and stroked my hair trying to figure out what kind of breed of “animal” I was. These children . . . scruffy, dirty faced, half-clothed . . . had my attention, and since I could not speak their language and they could not speak mine, I would just hold them in my arms, smile at them, and love on them the best I could.

Believe it or not these kind of children, the ones you can see so desperately need love and attention, are the easiest to love. It is those like an obstinate teenager, or a church member who has gone astray, or the church busybody that we seem to have a hard time showing love to. Amy’s love for the people God called her to serve was never ending. It never gave up. It never relented. It reached beyond what others might have felt fulfilled what was necessary or required of another. Her love was not dependent on the actions of others. It came from a source deep within her and from the example of Jesus’ love toward her. Her love for others was a Calvary-type love.

Bible Study:  A Love Like Calvary

Long before Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the now commonly used phrase, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” God spoke these words in Jeremiah 31:3b “. . . Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” The Bible is full of some of the most amazing stories of love like that of Solomon and the Shunamite woman or Hosea’s love for his unfaithful wife. We can see the great love between a parent and a child in the stories of Abraham and Isaac, Eunice and Timothy, and Joseph who loved Jesus as his own. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is that of the love shared between David and Jonathan, a friendship whose love surpassed that of a spouse, but no greater love story has there ever been or will there ever be than the love story of Calvary. So many adjectives come to mind when I think of the kind of love that Jesus had for me on Calvary, but here are few:

1. Calvary love is a Forgiving love. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. Calvary love is a Forbearing love. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

3. Calvary love is a Forever love. Lamentations 3:22 “"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”

4. Calvary love is a Formidable love. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Calvary love is a Forthright love. I John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

6. Calvary love is a Forgetful love. Hebrews 10:17 “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

7. Calvary love is a Forward love. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

8. Calvary love is a For everyone love. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The love Amy showed toward everyone challenges me to look at what kind of love I have toward others . . . the lovable and the unlovable . . . the deserving and the undeserving. What kind of love do you show to those around you? Is it a Calvary type love?

Copyright 2019 www.sharihouse.com

________________________________
*Disclaimer:

I have chosen to highlight the life of these ladies because of what they have accomplished for the Lord not because I agree with their doctrinal beliefs.  As with all study of man, our focus should be on the character traits they bestowed in their lives that allowed the Lord to use them, how the Lord used them, the methods of ministry they incorporated that allowed them to be effective, etc.  We do not study man to get our doctrine.  Our doctrinal beliefs should only come from the Bible.  To that end you may find you don’t agree with the doctrine of a particular person that I write about, but I believe there is still much wisdom we can gain from studying their lives.

Her Story Silhouettes {#24 Fanny Crosby / What'd You Say?}

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Silhouette:     

Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in Brewster, New York, and was the only child of John and Mercy Crosby. At six weeks old, she was blinded for life by a doctor who put hot mustard poultices on her eyes in order to cure an infection. Her father passed away when she was only six months old, and since her mother had to go to work to provide for the family, she was left in the care of her grandmother. Fanny couldn’t go to school like other children, but her grandmother took great care to describe the world to her in acute detail and teach her about the things of the Lord. She had a love of nature and the Word of God that showed in her many writings. Fanny never saw her blindness as a hindrance and at the age of 8 wrote a poem about it.

When she was around 10 years old, her family relocated to Connecticut, and she continued to learn under the tutelage of her grandmother and their neighbor, Mrs. Hawley. By her early teens, Fanny could recite from memory all four Gospels, the Song of Solomon, the Pentateuch, Proverbs, and many Psalms. In 1835, just before her 15^th birthday, Fanny had her prayers answered and was able to enroll as a student at the New York Institute for the Blind where she learned everything from mathematics to literature. It was there her love of writing flourished. She learned to sing and had a lovely soprano voice. She also mastered the guitar, piano, organ, and harp. In her early twenties, she published her first book of poems entitled, “The Blind Girl and Other Poems.” In 1847 she joined the staff at the Institute and taught English and history for many years.

A few years later in 1850, there was a cholera outbreak at the Institute, and Fanny chose to stay to nurse the sick and dying instead of retreating to safety outside the city. Although she had been reared in a godly home and grew up loving the Lord, it wasn’t until after this somber time in her life that she made a profession of faith in Christ while attending a revival meeting. Her writings took on a more religious tone after that. Fanny remained at the school until 1858 when, at the age of 37, she married Alexander van Alstyne who was also a blind teacher and considered one of the finest organists in the New York area. A year later they had a daughter they named Frances, who sadly died in her sleep soon after she was born.

Fanny published her first hymn, “There’s a Cry from Macedonia” in 1863* with composer William B. Bradbury. For the next 40 years, she continued to write hymns for many different composers using nearly 200 different pseudonyms since publishers were reluctant to publish multiple hymns in one hymnal from the same author. She was commissioned by Bigelow and Main to write three hymns a week for their Sunday School publications, but sometimes she would write six or seven a day. As Fanny couldn’t write her hymns down herself, she would compose them in her mind and then dictate them to others to write down. So good was her memory she would often be working on several hymns at a time, and on one particular occasion she composed 40 hymns in her mind before she had a chance to dictate them to someone. God surely gave her a keen mind and an amazing memory.

Fanny was often criticized by her contemporaries for her lack of style and formal approach to music, but Fanny wrote not to show off her literary talents, but to reach the hearts of those who wouldn’t listen to preaching. She went against the traditional hymn writing style of the day that focused on negative descriptions of the sinfulness of people and instead focused more on the relationship between the believer and Christ. Her simple style touched the emotions of singers and listeners alike. She testified that she prayed over each hymn and asked the Lord to use it to bring souls to Him. Her prayers have been answered thousands of times over again. Besides hymns, Fanny wrote over 1,000 secular poems, had 4 books of poetry published, and wrote 2 best-selling autobiographies. She also wrote at least 4 cantatas and various patriotic songs. Her last book of poems was published in 1897 at the age of 77. During her lifetime Fanny wrote over 8,000 hymns with more than 100 million copies printed. Many have gone by the wayside, but hundreds still remain to this day and can be found in our hymnbooks. Probably her most famous and most widely known hymn is “Blessed Assurance” which has been translated and sung around the world.

Besides seeking to bring others to the Savior through her hymn writing, Fanny had a desire to reach the individual through her life. For the better part of her adult years she lived in and around very poor urban areas. She devoted her time, money, and life to rescue work, and began working in the Water Street Mission in Manhattan in 1880 at the age of 60. Many times throughout her life, she testified of God’s goodness in letting her be blind, for in her blindness she could truly see the needs of others. 

Fanny died on February 12, 1915 at the age of 94. Although she and her hymns were known the world around, Fanny had no desire for fame. Her hymns were written out of a heart of love for her Lord and her desperate desire for others to know Him like she did. Before she died Fanny made her sister promise not to erect a large grave marker for her like those of other famous people that could be seen in the cemetery where her family plot was. So, at her request, they gave her a small stone with the following words, “She hath done what she could.” Later on, a group of friends erected a slightly larger tribute to her and on it they included the first stanza of “Blessed Assurance” in memory of her and with grateful hearts for the inspiration she was to them and to the world. She is truly a woman of whom it could be said, “She hath done what she could”!

Her Story/My Story:  

Words have power. I am always amazed at how words strung together eloquently can stir my heart and move me to action. Most all of Fannie’s songs have this effect on people. You can’t listen to the words Fanny wrote in “He Hideth My Soul” without feeling like God can help you no matter how big your problem is or listen to her words in “Rescue the Perishing” without feeling like you need to tell the next person that crosses your path about the Savior’s love. You can’t sing the words to “Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!” without gratitude welling up in your heart for all that God has done for you or not find yourself in joyous praise as you sing the words of “Praise Him, Praise Him.” Fannie’s words have literally touched thousands of lives in innumerable ways. They have bolstered a saint on their deathbed getting ready to enter Heaven’s gates the same as they have stirred the hearts of a crowd of thousands at a revival meeting. The story is told that one time the words from “My Savior First of All” protected a number of people from spiritual deception. There was a man who suddenly appeared in London, claiming to be the Messiah. He was charismatic and persuasive, and for many weeks large crowds were drawn to him. One evening as he was speaking in a public square, a small Salvation Army band passed by singing “My Savior First of All.” The large crowd that had gathered to hear from the “messiah” joined the small band in their singing, and when they sang the final words of the song “I shall know Him, I shall know Him, by the print of the nails in His hand,” someone in the crowd shouted out, “Look at his hands and see if the print of the nails is there.” When they saw he had no such marks, they knew the truth that he was not the Messiah and they followed him no more. Words have meaning and impact lives.

On a lighter note, but still proving my point that words should be chosen and used wisely, I remember the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college, I worked as an office clerk at the company where my father was the General Manager. One of my jobs was that of the “shredder.” Every day there would be a stack of papers on my desk that I was to take back to a room down a long hallway that contained a large paper shredder. I never paid any attention to what the papers were about, but assumed they were secret documents that needed destroyed for some reason or another. Of course, my father was the General Manager of a toy company, so what kind of secrets they would need to be shredding, who knows, but in my young mind I thought they must contain something important that no one was supposed to know about. Fast forward to the end of the summer and a few weeks into my sophomore year where I started a new job as a radio dispatcher for campus security at the Bible college I was attending. I had been assigned the graveyard shift, and it was an interesting new world for me of codes and signals and super important things like recording when a security guard had to leave his squad car for a bathroom break. One day, though, I was asked to work in the office for a morning shift. I was nervous because it meant I would probably be seeing Chief, our head of security or Unit 1 as he was called. He was a bit of a scary and intimidating guy, and everyone knew you didn’t want to cross him. So, there I was just sitting at the office desk, trying to make a good impression when Chief came bounding down the hallway into the office, placed a large stack of papers upside down on my desk and said rather abruptly, “Tear these!” I answered, “Yes, Sir” and he proceeded to enter his office quickly and shut his door forcefully. I thought to myself, “I wonder what kind of secret information is on these security papers.” I didn’t take time to look at them since I was afraid he might come out of his door at any moment. I looked around the office everywhere for the paper shredder but couldn’t find it. I could have asked his secretary, but she was a bit scary as well, and since I was new and keen to impress the Chief, I took the initiative to just hand shred them. So, there I was tearing the pages into little shreds with my bare hands, and I proceeded to throw it all in the trashcan next to the desk. Feeling quite accomplished I smiled at him when he exited the door and walked to my desk until he said to me, “Where are the tests?” I gave him a puzzled look and said, “What tests?” He was not known to be one for patience and so with a bit of sternness said, “The tests I just handed you.” My heart literally sunk as I realized those were not secret documents he had handed me, they were tests for his students for his next class that he was running late to. I pointed to the trash can as the feeling of excitement that a praise would be coming my way quickly turned into dread. He looked at me in confusion and said, “No, where are the papers I gave you to tear?” I pointed to the trash can again. You can imagine the back and forth then as he realized I had just torn up all his tests and they were sitting in the trash can in small strips. My words tumbled out about how I thought they were secret security papers and that when he said “tear” I thought he meant “shred” when in fact he meant “separate.” The tests had been printed on one of those old printers where the pages were connected together, and he needed me to SEPARATE the pages not SHRED them. I was completely mortified while Chief could do nothing but stand there laughing in disbelief. Like I said, words are powerful. They can cause someone to do something no one else would dare to have done. Having said that, I’m sure his students were singing my praises that day.

Bible Study:  What'd You Say?

Studies show that a normal person speaks at least 7,000 words a day. That totals roughly 153 million words in an average lifetime which is equivalent to speaking the words of the Bible 195 times or the words of an average romance novel 2,190 times. Those 7,000+ words you speak a day leave an imprint on the hearts of those around you. When you talk, is it just to hear the sound of your voice, or just to participate in the conversation, or is there purpose and meaning behind the things you say. It is easy for us to be careless with our words and use them to be critical, lift ourselves up, or speak vain things as opposed to looking for opportunities to use our words to be thankful, build others up, or speak the truth. Matthew 12:36 says, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” The Bible has much to say about our tongue and the words we speak, but here are 3 ways to make sure you use the majority of your words wisely:

1. Be slow to speak.

Proverbs 13:3 tells us, “He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.” In a conversation, it is human nature to assume that it is more important for the other person to hear what you have to say than it is for you to hear what they are trying to say. The Bible tells us in James 1:19, ”Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Listen more than you speak, and when you do speak, make sure you remember that your words reveal your heart. If your words are impatient, you have an impatient heart. If your words are loving, you have a loving heart. If your words are angry, you have an angry heart. Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

2. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

It is all too common for us to try to use sarcasm, wit, and jesting to get our point across, but often when we speak in this manner, what we say is misunderstood. One of Satan’s greatest tools to disrupt the harmony in a home or in the church is misunderstandings. Proverbs 26:18-19 says, “As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neigbour, and saith, Am not I in sport?” In modern terms that is the equivalent of the words, “I’m just kidding,” “I’m just joking,” or “I didn’t really mean it like that.” Ephesians 5:3-4 admonishes us this way, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”

3. Use your words for eternal value.

Obviously, there is much talk we do throughout any given day that is rooted in earthly things, but we should make sure that every single day, we’ve said something to someone that has eternal value . . . a kind word, an encouraging note, an explanation of a truth from the Word, or sharing of the Gospel. If you would get into the habit of every morning evaluating your words from the day before, it will help you to be more mindful of your words as you go throughout that day. Ask yourself these 3 questions about the words you used yesterday:

·        Did the words I used reflect that I’m a Christian and follow Christ?

·        Did the words I used show anyone the love of God?

·        Did the words I used make a positive difference in anyone’s life?

Fanny Crosby chose to use her talent with words to honor the Lord and to draw others to Him. It is interesting to note that she and Bing Crosby are actually related. Don’t get me wrong, I like me some Bing Crosby for sure, and it isn’t like he used his talents wickedly or anything, but if I look at both of their lives . . . both talented musicians . . . both talented singers . . . both talented song writers . . . and I evaluate which of them used their gift with words for the better purpose, it is an easy answer.

I hope it is your desire today to use your words wisely and with eternity in mind.

________

* Some accounts list it as published in 1867.

Copyright 2019 www.sharihouse.com

________________________________
*Disclaimer:

I have chosen to highlight the life of these ladies because of what they have accomplished for the Lord not because I agree with their doctrinal beliefs.  As with all study of man, our focus should be on the character traits they bestowed in their lives that allowed the Lord to use them, how the Lord used them, the methods of ministry they incorporated that allowed them to be effective, etc.  We do not study man to get our doctrine.  Our doctrinal beliefs should only come from the Bible.  To that end you may find you don’t agree with the doctrine of a particular person that I write about, but I believe there is still much wisdom we can gain from studying their lives.

Her Story Silhouettes {#23 Corrie ten Boom / Freedom in Forgiveness}

Go to www.sharihouse.com to read more "Her Story Silhouettes"

Silhouette:     

Corrie ten Boom was born in Haarlem, Holland on the 15^th of April 1892. She was raised in a God-fearing home and was the youngest of four siblings. Her father was a watchmaker, and Corrie followed in his profession becoming the first woman in Holland to qualify as a watchmaker. From the age of 29 to 48, Corrie ran the Haarlem Girl’s Clubs that focused not only on things like gymnastics, music, and camping, but also taught the girls about God’s love and the importance of having a personal walk with the Lord. She also ran a club for intellectually handicapped children and found joy in helping others. Many of her girls drew strength from their faith in God and from the things she had taught them during the terrible years that lay ahead.

On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Holland when Corrie was 48 years old. As the persecution of Jews began, Corrie and her family helped in any way they could – giving a bowl of soup here or a small amount of money there. As the situation grew worse, there was more need, and eventually Corrie and her family began the dangerous underground work of housing and relocating Jews to safer places. They had a false wall built in one of the upstairs rooms to hide the Jews and found ways to get ration cards and false identifications made. They knew they would eventually be found out, but they helped each one the Lord brought to their door. One day Corrie was tricked by someone pretending to need money to help the Jews, and on February 28, 1944, the ten Boom family was arrested. Corrie was thrown in prison at Scheveningen, unaware of what had happened to her other family members. In June she was reunited with her sister, Betsie, when they were moved to a labor camp at Vught. In September they were taken to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. This is where their real “hell on earth” began.

The sisters faced many, many hardships and were treated as animals. They were stripped of their dignity, made to do hard labor from before sunup to after sundown, and were forced to stand for hours at attention in the rain. They were housed in quarters made for 400, yet there were 1,400 in their barrack alone and 35,000 women in total at the camp. Their beds were infested with fleas, the food they were given was meager and putrid, and there was no medical care to speak of. The billowing smoke from the tall chimney above the ovens in the center of the camp, where the bodies of those who had been gassed for one reason or another were burned, was always in their sight. In all this despair and degradation, Corrie and her sister tried their best to be a witness for Christ and proclaim the love of God. They would hold Bible studies using a small Bible they had smuggled in their clothes, and they prayed for and with many of the women who lived in utter despair and without any hope. Even in this horrible place, the light of God shone through the efforts of Corrie and her sister.

Only once did Corrie begin to waver in her faith . . . when her sister Betsie died just before Christmas. Her sister, though weak in body, had been such a great source of strength for her and the other women. It was she who told Corrie, “We must tell people how good God is. After the war we must go around the world telling people. No one will be able to say that they have suffered worse than us. We can tell them how wonderful God is, and how His love will fill our lives, if only we will give up our hatred and bitterness.”

One week later, on December 31, 1944, when Corrie was 52 years old, she was ordered to report after the roll-call. She was fearful that she’d be whipped or punished or even shot. Instead, when she came to the office, she was given a card stamped “Entlassen” - “Released.” Corrie could not believe she was free and later found out she was released due to a clerical error. The very next week, all the ladies her age were sent to the gas chamber.

Almost immediately upon Corrie’s release and recovery, she set about trying to help other victims. A large house was given to her where she set up a Christian rehabilitation center for war victims. She spent the next 30 years traveling the world telling people of the horrors the prisoners endured and the love of God that could root out any bitterness and make them whole. She visited over 60 countries including Russia and other communist countries, and when she went, she always tried to visit the prisons. She wrote her story down in a book called “The Hiding Place” which eventually was made into a movie, and in 1968 she was honored by the State of Israel for her work in aiding the Jewish people.

Corrie ten Boom died on the 15^th of April 1983, on her 91^st birthday. She was a very normal person who went through a horrific ordeal, and because she did not let it entrap her into a life of bitterness, the Lord was able to use her extraordinarily to minister to the hearts and change the lives of untold thousands. She is truly a woman of whom it could be said, “She hath done what she could”!

Her Story/My Story:  

At a meeting where Corrie was speaking soon after the war, she came face to face with one of the German prison guards from the camp. This particular guard happened to be one she and Betsie had to strip down in front of. He had become a Christian and he came up to her after her talk and asked to shake her hand. The feelings that came over her were almost more than she could bear, and she found herself praying, “Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.” The love that swept over her heart in that moment almost took her breath away. She found she did have love in her heart for this man who had so wronged her. There was forgiveness in her heart that God had put there that she could give to this man. She was able to embrace his handshake, and once again feel the freedom that only comes with forgiveness and letting go. Corrie found in her rehabilitation work, that only those who were able to forgive could make a good recovery and begin to live again. They could experience a life renewed, not only by being forgiven by the One who did no wrong, but also by forgiving the one who had done so much wrong to them. No one would have faulted Corrie for being filled with anger and bitterness at her captors, her persecutors, . . . and some might even go so far as to say . . . her God, but Corrie refused to live the life of a victim and instead chose to live life victoriously . . . free from bitterness . . . free from anger . . . freedom from revenge . . . simply free.  

I have never in my life experienced something as terrible as what Corrie and many others had to endure. I cannot say that I have ever been called upon to forgive someone who has done such a great wickedness toward me. There have been times over the years, however, where injustices have occurred against me. I have been wronged, and I’ve found it hard to forgive the person. Anyone alive has had at least one time in their life, and possibly plenty, when they were wronged. I won’t give any names or particular instances as the names and dates are unimportant, but suffice it to say, I’ve found myself more than once in a heap on the floor crying out to God and claiming the verse, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” In those moments, though, what I have found more damaging than any injustice done to me, is my inability or unwillingness to forgive. I hate how unforgiveness feels. I hate that it keeps my mind engaged and wastes my time. I hate that in an instant it can make my heart feel pain and sadness all over again. I hate that it takes control and causes me to feel helpless and robs me of my joy. Bitterness comes from a place of unforgiveness, and it is only I who chooses to let it have any place in my life. Corrie once said, “Forgiveness is the key which unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.”

Bible Study:  Freedom in Forgiveness

Forgiveness is foreign to man’s nature, but it is the heart of God to forgive. Forgiveness is something every Christian struggles with and very few know how to deal with. Forgiveness is not a feeling that you passively wait for to come over you at some undetermined time when you all of a sudden have no more anger in your heart towards someone. Forgiveness, instead, is a choice you make to release yourself from anger, hatred, and resentment. I love that quote, “Forgiveness doesn’t make the other person right, it makes you free.”

Three steps to experiencing the freedom of forgiveness:

1. Perform surgery. Just like a weed must be pulled out by the roots instead of just cutting down what shows on the surface, we must perform surgery on our hearts and minds. This is an inner response where you perform spiritual surgery in your memory, just like God did when He says in Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Not only does God no longer remember our sins, He says He removes our sins from us. It says in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Do you ever wonder why the Lord said from the east is from the west instead of from the north to the south? It would be the same difference, wouldn’t it? No, it wouldn’t. There is a point on the globe when you are going north that you can go no further and instead have to start going south, but there is no point on the globe when you are going west that you cannot still go further west. Interesting isn’t it? This verse teaches us that God remembers our sin no more. There is no point at which He allows Himself to turn back and remember our sins. He does not continually bring our sins up to us. He does not allow our sins to change His loving nature toward us. With God’s power and by meditating on His forgiveness, you can cut out of your mind all of the injustices committed against you. It doesn’t happen naturally. It doesn’t happen automatically. But . . . it can be done. For me what I have found works best is any time a thought comes to my mind about a past hurt or a wrong that has been done to me, I commit it to the Lord, tell myself I have already forgiven the person who has wronged me, and pray for them. When that fails and I find my mind once again dwelling on the injustice, I literally smack my hand and tell myself, “You will not think about that.” Since I’m not into self-inflicting pain, this usually does the trick for me, although sometimes it takes a few smacks.

2. Reconcile relationships. Forgiveness is complete when alienated people are fully reconciled. I want to preface this with the fact that I am not advocating putting yourself in a dangerous situation where someone could cause you physical harm again, but I do believe that forgiveness in its truest form is shown when we are willing to be wronged again by someone who has wronged us before. Jesus shows us this example in Matthew 5:39, “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” How many of us are guilty of saying, “I forgive you, but I’m not getting close to you again.” Forgiveness means that you end the cycle of pain by restoring the relationship – whether or not the person ever apologizes or tries to make things right on their end. The Bible gives us many examples of people who were good not only at forgiving but also at trying to restore the relationship. Joseph forgave his brothers who sold him into slavery and showed love to them. David forgave Saul who tried to kill him numerous times without cause and showed him honor. And of course, Jesus was our greatest example who, when dying on the cross, said, “. . . Father forgive them; for they know not what they do. . . ” Besides the fact that God commands us to forgive many times in the Bible, He gives to us the greatest example of forgiveness and restoration of relationship when He forgives you and I every day, many times a day, and continues to seek a relationship with us. We, who are forgiven, not only have the capacity to forgive but the motivation to forgive as well.

3. Let your Actions Speak. Another common statement made by someone who has been wronged is “I forgive them, but I’m not showing them any kindness.” We see later on in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” All the verbs in this sentence. . . love, bless, do good, pray . . . they are all action verbs. They are not passive. They do not describe someone who has forgiven but wants nothing more to do with the person. Jesus wants us to be this kind of person - a person who has truly forgiven another – a person who isn’t acting according to the natural man but is someone who is following their Heavenly Father’s example. Show by your actions that you have completely forgiven. This is the outward response to your inner decision to be forgiving. Again, I’m not advocating that you put yourself in harms way, but it is important to have the mindset you are not going to allow an injustice done to you by someone else dictate to you your actions. You should be a loving, caring, forgiving person toward others, not because they are that way toward you, but because God is.

Copyright 2019 www.sharihouse.com

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*Disclaimer:

I have chosen to highlight the life of these ladies because of what they have accomplished for the Lord not because I agree with their doctrinal beliefs.  As with all study of man, our focus should be on the character traits they bestowed in their lives that allowed the Lord to use them, how the Lord used them, the methods of ministry they incorporated that allowed them to be effective, etc.  We do not study man to get our doctrine.  Our doctrinal beliefs should only come from the Bible.  To that end you may find you don’t agree with the doctrine of a particular person that I write about, but I believe there is still much wisdom we can gain from studying their lives.