Hand in Hand Proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Submissive to my Fathers will

From the book titled, "In my Father's House", Corrie ten Boom writes and recalls a time long ago when she had to leave her fathers house and go to school against her will. Little did she know at that time where her life would take her. She learned at an early age to be submissive to her fathers will. 

Corrie writes...However, when I turned my toes in even more, and tightened my fingers in a knuckle-whitening grip on the railing, I meant business. "I'm not going to school: I know how to read; I can learn arithmetic from Papa, and Casperina needs me at home." Of course you're not going to school alone, Corrie. I am going to walk with you. Papa bent over me, his beard tickling the top of my head, and one by one loosened my fingers on the railing. With the release of each finger, I howled a bit louder. By the time Papa had my hand in his, he was almost dragging me down the street toward the school. I thought my hand would break-just like Casperina's (her doll), and then it would be impossible for me to go to school! 

It must have taken great dignity for Papa, with his immaculate suit and erect carriage, to struggle past the homes and shops of his friends with a red-faced child announcing her objections to the entire world. I knew Father was not angry, but his will was law. I had to obey. When we arrived at the school I realized how I must look to others, and stopped abruptly. Papa release my hand; my fingers weren't broken at all-only my heart was slightly injured. However, when Papa kissed me gently on the cheek, he assured me that when school was over, he would be waiting at home, and I knew I would find that blessed security I needed in the shelter of his arms.

God was teaching a little lesson in a small life, because sixty-seven years later, He reminded me of my fingers on the railing.

Corrie and Betsie, (Corrie's Sister) spent 10 months in three different prisons, the last was the infamous Ravensbruck Concentration Camp located near Berlin, Germany. Life in the camp was almost unbearable, but Corrie and Betsie spent their time sharing Jesus' love with their fellow prisoners. Many women became Christians in that terrible place because of Corrie and Betsie's witness to them. Betsie (59) died in Ravensbruck, but Corrie survived. Corrie’s nephew, Christiaan (24), had been sent to Bergen Belsen for his work in the underground, and never returned. Corrie’s brother, Willem (60), was also a ringleader in the Dutch underground. While in prison for this "crime," he contracted spinal tuberculosis and died shortly after the war.

Four Ten Booms gave their lives for this family’s commitment, but Corrie came home from the death camp. She realized her life was a gift from God, and she needed to share what she and Betsy had learned in Ravensbruck: "There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still" and "God will give us the love to be able to forgive our enemies" (excerpt from corrietenboom.com/history page). Corrie was a woman who was faithful to God. She died on her 91st birthday, April 15, 1983.

Being submissive to our Heavenly Fathers will does not always come easy. Especially when it's something we do not want to do. How often do we tighten our fingers in a "knuckle-whitening" grip, and dig our heels and refuse to do, or to go where our Father is asking us to go?  There are times that we know where God is leading, and what He is asking of us, and yet because we are fearful, we refuse to submit. We tell ourselves that it's okay just to stay in this place and we make every excuse not to obey.

The railing that Corrie held onto so tight that day stands out big in my mind. And it causes me to wonder what are some things in our life that we may be holding onto, refusing to let go against our Fathers will?  He pulls us away from those things, speaking to our heart to "let go", and assures us of His love. He tells us that we can trust Him and promises that we will not have to do this alone, that He will walk with us all along the way. There are so many different types of "railings" that we tend to hold onto and find it hard to let go. For some they are fears and insecurities, for others it may be unforgiveness or grievances. Others hold onto habits of all sorts and cannot find a way of escape from them.

In some ways we become prisoners in our own made prisons. We become bound by fears and doubts, and inwardly we struggle and wrestle with these things. We even convince ourselves sometimes to believe the excuse we tell our self. And for many of us God has been striving with us to let go of those things for many years. We need to let go of all those "childhood" things in our life, and to go out from that place of security. For it's in letting go, that we learn to submit to Gods will in our life. 

I remember vividly our daughter Niki's first day of school. She was so excited to go and could hardly wait for that day to come. But when she returned home that evening and we asked her how her day went, she said, "I don't like school, and I am not going back". It broke our hearts to have to send her back to school especially when she did not want to go. But we knew what was best for her even though she could not understand.

More important, our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. Even when He takes us by the hand against our own will and leads us in paths and to places that we cannot understand, we must realize that Gods little lessons are really "valuable lessons" in disguise. We can see Gods gentle hand reaching down to our clenched hand as He pries one finger open at a time. Until we finally let go of those things that we have held onto and begin to trust Him as He places His hand in ours. To be submissive to His will is to know that there is no problem to hard that God cannot solve it, and as Corrie said, "There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still".

Isaiah 61: verse 1 and 3, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified".

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We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible authoritative Word of God.  We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, was buried, resurrected, ascended into heaven, and is now seated at the right hand of God.  We believe in the personal salvation of believers through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  We believe in the personal resurrection of the dead, the eternal happiness of the saved, and the eternal punishment of the lost.  We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling we are enabled to live a Godly life, with all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit operational in the Body of Christ today.  We believe in the Christian's hope, the soon coming return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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