Warrior of God...

When we traveled through Amsterdam a couple of years ago,  there were two things I particularly wanted to do.  I wanted to visit The Annex, where Anne Frank hid from the Nazi's for two years during WWII, and I wanted to see the The Hiding Place, where Corrie Ten Boom and her family hid Jews from the Nazi's while working with the Dutch underground.  They are, in a way, two sides of the same story, and I wanted to experience both to better understand each of them.

I was interested in Anne Frank's Annex because, like so many other people, I had read her diary as a young girl, and I wanted to see it in person.  The empty floors, the small space where they hid, the ingenious bookshelf which covered their door, all helped to fill out the desperate story of persecution I had read so long ago.  It was history come alive, and it was very meaningful for me.

But it was the home of Corrie Ten Boom that meant the most to me.  The Ten Booms were well known, her father a respected, elderly businessman with many friends.  They likely would have ridden out the war with little trouble if only they had followed the orders of the Nazi occupiers and kept to the rules.  They didn't have to risk anything, and no one would have judged them harshly for it if they hadn't.  But they couldn't ignore God's call.

Instead, the entire family participated in the Dutch underground.  They worked tirelessly, and at great personal risk, to save people who, without their help, would have been doomed.  The Ten Booms were called to stand in the gap, and they answered.  It is a breathtaking thing to see God at work.  It is humbling, as well.

Whenever I think of Corrie, I wonder about myself.  Could I have done what they did?  Could I risk my home, my family, my future, my life, in order to follow God's command and save a stranger?

They knew the danger they were facing. Corrie's father, Casper, when warned he could die for their work in the underground, replied that he considered it an honor to die for God's ancient people.  The cost was very real - Corrie ultimately lost her father, sister, nephew, and brother as a result of their imprisonment, and herself endured unimaginable horror in a concentration camp.

And yet, she lived without regret.  On the contrary, she felt that it was the righteous thing God had asked of her.  In Ephesians 6:12-13, God's command is very clear and straight forward:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

Corrie's life is a reminder that we are not called to be safe.  We are called by God to stand for righteousness where spiritual injustice is found, and to look to God for the armor with which to surround ourselves, regardless of the earthly cost.  Corrie embodied this command, and lived it fully, even to the risk of her own life.

God has not asked me to save anyone's life today.  But evil abounds in this world, and we are surrounded by the same dark forces that brought the world to war so many years ago.  God has commanded me to put on his armor and reach out to others where spiritual warfare is being waged.  Anne was a victim of the evil that exists.  Corrie is the warrior who shows us the power of God's armor.  Jesus died for all of us.  How can I do less than answer his call?