Episode One | The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

I turned the last page. Closed the cover. Flipped the book over in my hands, and glanced up at the Appalachian Mountains. No more tears streamed down my face because, to be honest, I had no more tears left to cry.

Have you ever gotten to that point? Where you still wanted to cry but your body wouldn’t produce any tears, as if to say, It’s time to move on.

I was a week past a failed engagement, had no job or place of my own (thanks for letting me crash a while, Mom and Dad), and I had no idea what to do next.

Every day, I observed life happening. Breakfasts being made, work days beginning and ending, dinner making its way to the table.

I could see the markers of time around me, but for me, the clock stood still.

I was frozen, knowing I couldn’t go back and unsure how to go forward in the new path before me.

And this is where our book review begins, or I guess ends, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Before we dig in, let’s go over what we’re going to talk about in this episode:

The characters. I always start my reviews with this part of the story because without great character development, the story is uninteresting. You may find the story boring and you’re not sure why. Character development, even in a nonfiction story like this one where the characters are real people, is critical for any story.

World Building. Again this is a term commonly used in fiction writing because the author is literally building a world, but I think it’s really important in nonfiction too. Literature is the intersection of culture and humanity, so by developing the world for the reader, an author helps us understand the significance of events, words, etc.

How it made me feel. This one is pretty simple, did I love it or not. Did it make me feel good or kinda gross inside. I weigh books heavily on how they leave me feeling after I finish them because, in my opinion, the best books linger in your soul.

My rating. 1-5, very basic. All of these topics considering. And I very rarely give 5 stars. :)

Before we dive into the parts I just mentioned, here’s a quick summary: This book is a memoir of events, from Pre-World War II Holland, through the murderous Holocaust, and then finally we see post-War Holland. It’s quite the story, with joy, love, loss and grief, and, of course, hope.

Characters:

It’s hard to give a good picture of the characters without spoilers, but I’m going to try.

Let’s start with Casper, Corrie’s dad. I loved Casper. So much of the wisdom from this book was a reflection of him. Here’s one of my favorite parts of the story. Corrie has just been, to put it gently, DUMPED by the guy she loved. Here’s what Corrie wrote: The sweet cigar-smell came into the room with Father. And of course he did not say the false, idle words. "Corrie," he began instead, "do you know what hurts so very much? It's love. Love is the strongest force in the world, and when it is blocked that means pain. "There are two things we can do when this happens. We can kill the love so that it stops hurting. But then of course part of us dies, too. Or, Corrie, we can ask God to open up another route for that love to travel.. Whenever we cannot love in the old, human way, Corrie, God can give us his perfect way." I did not know, as I listened to Father's footsteps winding back down the stairs, that he had given me more than the key to this hard moment. I did not know that he had put into my hands the secret that would open far darker rooms than this--places where there was not, on a human level, anything to love at all.” It’s so profound! That’s Casper.

And then we have Corrie. She’s such an enigma to me. Everyone sort of acts like she’s the sweet, super holy woman, but really she wasn’t. She WAS, but she was also very REAL. Throughout the book you will be able to see yourself in her, in the way that she describes her humanness. One of my favorite Corrie stories involves a tiny little ant. WHen she was first captured, they put her in solitary confinement because of her high-role in the Underground. Every night, a tiny ant would appear in her cell, and so she began saving a crumb or two for it from her meals. Well, one night the ant did not come out. And the next night, again, it did not come out. Her grief overtook her at losing another friend—and tiny ant. That story showed me so much about Corrie…her desperation, her sadness, and the tenderheart behind her stoic, tough countenance. That’s the best way I can describe Corrie, and I felt like it really reflected me in some ways.

Lastly, let’s talk about Betsie, Corrie’s big sister. Throughout a series of God hiding them during the Ravensbruck intro process, Corrie and Betsie were somehow able to sneak in a Bible. Every night they would have Bible study in the back of their barrack. Well, because they slept on straw beds, their entire barrack was flea infested. They had bites all over them, and some of the bites became infected. In fact, some of their roomates died from infection caused by these bites. Corrie was complaining and carrying on who how inhumane the germans were (rightfully, right?? Wouldn’t you have been?!) Well, Bestie stopped her and said, “Corrie, let’s thank God for these fleas. For some reason He has given them to us.” Corrie thought she was crazy of course, but she did what she said. Well, wouldn’t you know, soon after, they learned that the Germans would not enter their barrack because…. It was flea infested!! And because of the fleas, Betsie and Corrie were able to read scripture to hundreds of women in desperate need of supernatural Hope. I loved this lesson, and I share it often. Thank God for the fleas in your life. He uses all things for His good.

World Building:

I loved the world building from the very beginning. From the descriptions of their living room, to the flowers outside of the tent of the SS soldier Corrie witnessed to, every detail of the world around Corrie felt like you were there.

One of my favorite illustrations of the world building is Corrie’s description of their home—and how her description helps the reader understand The Hiding Place, the book’s physical namesake.

For clarity, let’s go back a little and visit Corrie’s father, Casper, a watchmaker. He owns a small clock shop in Amsterdam, Holland. Above the clock shop is their home, affectionately called The Beje (bayhay). Right from the beginning, we see God’s plan to hide his people. You see, the beje had been renovated many times…new layers and rooms had been added on for many years. And back then, construction wasn’t like it is now. The rooms were a bit haphazardly connected to each other, creating a labyrinth in their home home. Corrie was the head of the Underground in Holland during WWII, going as far to hide Jews in the beje. They actually installed a “fake” wall in one of the upstairs bedrooms to create a hiding place where their Jewish guests would go if the SS came looking for them. And because of God’s provision over many years in making the beje a maze of rooms, stairs, and funny walls, when the SS came to look for Jews the first time, one of the soliders said “This home was built by the devil himself…” Quite the opposite, dear soldier. You were in the presence of God, and you missed Him. How sad.

How it made me feel:

I felt hope, oddly, at the end. Without giving the story away, I will tell you this—some of Corrie’s family survived and, since she wrote this book, you can reasonably deduce she survived too. But many in her family did not survive. The book explains their death and, in the process, reminds you that death is God’s final call on our lives, a painful yet necessary part of our homegoing. I don’t know how she did it, but somehow the deaths of the characters I loved gave me a steely resolve to look forward to Heaven a little more.

Corrie’s re-entry into society at the end was heartbreaking to me, I’ll let you read for yourself, but pay attention to one of the last scenes where Corrie tries to join her host for dinner. They way she felt like that place was not for her because they used silverware (and surely someone as rotten as her could not be so blessed to eat at a table with silverware) will stay in your heart forever. At the beginning of this episode I told you a story of my reentry, we’ll call it, with a vastly different and more cynical world view. In the same way that Corrie struggled to see herself eating a proper meal after her time in Ravensbruck, I struggled to see myself every being happy, fulfilled or trusting again, armed with the new knowledge that Christians can be quite horrible. I won’t divulge the details of why my engagement ended, but let me leave it with: i was disillusioned by church leaders, the church body, and, quite frankly, the “kingdom” of God.

I think I loved Corrie’s story so much because she didn’t STAY there. She didn’t stay defeated, downtrodden, damaged.

No, she asked God to heal her, to sanctify her painful experiences and to use her life for His Glory.

You absolutely must read the ending to find out how God redeemed so much of her pain… and if you’re feeling really interested in Corrie’s post-war ministry, read Tramp for the Lord, her second book, too. Wow, it’s just SO amazing to read how God continued to heal her for years after the war ended.

My overall rating: FIVE STARS. I wish I could give it ten. You’ll love the characters, the beautiful descriptions of Holland, learning more about the Holocaust than you ever knew, and most of all learning about the major theme of this book: God’s incredible ability (and desire!) to hide us from the evil one.

It will absolutely change your world—and Kingdom—view.

The story I told you at the beginning of this podcast true—from my own personal library of experiences that I rarely ever talk about because God has redeemed it, sanctified it, which is all I ever asked.

The heroine of The Hiding Place, although she would balk at being described that way, faced unimaginable trials—ones that made my situation feel insignificant.

Maybe that’s one small reason I loved this book, but the real reason is that I watched as her life went from happy and easy, to painful and desolate and grim (?)…and then I saw how she surrendered it all to God, and took her life experiences and made them hope-giving for others.

I kicked off my first podcast episode with The Hiding Place because I believe you probably know what it feels like to need a place to hide—and not to have one.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever wanted to become invisible? Or wished you could just crawl under a table so you could avoid an awkward experience? Or maybe you’ve wanted to pull the covers over your head for a few years and not come out until your circumstance is all over?

Or, maybe you’ve wished that God himself would hide you? From pain, from grief, from evil.

Well, in The Hiding Place, that’s exactly what happened.

God hid Corrie in order to reveal Himself. And he will do the same for you.

Psalm 91:4 says, “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” (esv)

The message version says it beautifully, too, “His huge outstretched arms protect you—under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm.”

So whether one of God’s children finds herself in Ravensbruck or canceling a wedding venue, or dealing with a scary diagnosis, a tragic accident, a broken relationship, the death of a loved one, or a challenging job—no matter what, God’s arms are outstretched for you. He has a place for you beneath his wings, where he will fend off the enemy.

Be encouraged, today, dear friend. God is with you.

I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I really hope you read The Hiding Place. When you do, let me know how you like it!

See you next time.