And the God of all grace, . . . after you have suffered a little while, will . . . make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10)
Corrie ten Boom was a prisoner in a German concentration camp in World War II. Along with thousands of other women, she was sentenced to hard labor. It was a horrible place. Her sister died in that camp and Corrie was aware that women were often separated from the other prisoners and sent to the terrible gas chambers. They were killed, and their bodies were burned.
Through a clerical error (or was it an error?), she was released. She went on to write books and engage in a speaking ministry that touched thousands of people for Christ. As she traveled about, she called herself a “tramp for the Lord.” Indeed, for thirty-three years after her release from the prison camp, she had no permanent home.
When she was eighty-five, some of her supporters provided her with a lovely home in California. A friend who visited her there remarked, “Corrie, hasn’t God been good to give you this beautiful home?” She replied, “Yes, and God was good when I was in Ravensbrück too.”
Our suffering is inevitable. Jesus suffered. Paul suffered. Other early Christians suffered. And believers still suffer—some physically, some emotionally, some spiritually, and some all three. But the promise is that “the God of all grace” will bring us through our suffering and make us “strong, firm and steadfast.”
Claim his promise to make you strong, firm, and steadfast.
Ron McClung is a retired minister in The Wesleyan Church. He and his wife, Carol, live in Michigan and enjoy spending time with their sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
