My friend and brother in Christ recently went home to his eternal reward. For almost 91 years, he trusted in God. Hugh was a healthy, active farmer most of his life. The last few years were a severe trial for him. Failing eyesight curtailed his farming. Several strokes confined him to a health care center, his spirit and soul imprisoned in a body that frustrated his efforts to communicate and care for himself. But he had a hiding place.

“He shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:4

Before his ill health, Hugh shared a story with me that I shall never forget. He had worked hard that spring and summer, planting and cultivating his crops. He felt he wanted to take a break and go to St. Louis and do some sightseeing. Being a bachelor farmer, he’d always worked hard and rarely went to St. Louis. On the way back, he stopped at a county fair. After walking around for a while, he felt an urgency to go home. As he drove toward home, he felt strongly impressed to take the East St. Louis exit. He turned off and went a few blocks tot he first stoplight. On the corner stood a stout elderly lady. It was warm outside, but she had on a winter coat. She stood with her head bowed, with two old suitcases sitting beside her. Hugh felt impressed by God to stop and talk to her. He drove around the block and came to where she was standing. He rolled the car window down and said, “Lady, can I help you?” She opened her eyes, looked at him and smiled. In broken English she said, “Ja, do you know ver Salem, Illinois is? I’m supposed to meet some friend there.”

“Yes,” Hugh replied, “I live just a few miles from Salem. I’ll take you there.” Hugh got out, took her suitcases, which he noted were extremely heavy, and put them in the trunk.

The lady got in the car and promptly went to sleep. In Salem, he took her to a hotel where she was to meet friends. A couple of weeks later, as he was watching a Christian television program, he saw a woman being interviewed by the host. Suddenly Hugh recognized her. “That’s the lady I gave a ride to Salem!” he exclaimed. Her name was Corrie ten Boom.

Corrie ten Boom spent the first fifty years of her life living peacefully with her father and sister above their watch shop in Holland. During WWII, the ten Boom’s were imprisoned in a German concentration camp for the “crime” of hiding Jewish refugees. Her family perished there, but Corrie was miraculously released. As the ten Boom’s provided a hiding place for Jewish refugees hunted by the Nazis, so Corrie’s family had a hiding place amidst the horrors of war – the Lord Jesus, the Rock of Ages.

After her release, Corrie ten Boom crisscrossed the globe, slept in a thousand different beds and lived out of suitcases, all to fulfill her God-given mission to tell people everywhere that Jesus Christ is a reality, that He lives, that He is Victor, and wants to be your Hiding Place. She authored many best selling books, including The Hiding Place, which was made into a major motion picture.

One of her most inspiring stories occurred as she was speaking in a church. Se spoke on forgiveness. Jesus said, “If you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your heavenly Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:14-15. Following the service, an old man came up to the front. He asked Corrie if she really meant what she taught. “Of course,” she replied. She then froze as she recognized him as the prison guard who humiliated her and treated her family so cruelly. He stretched out his hand and said, “Will you forgive me and shake my hand? I now have become a Christian.”

With agony, she prayed for God’s grace and extended forgiveness that came hard and with much pain.

“Yes, we never touch the ocean of God’s love so much as when we love our enemies. It is a joy to ‘accept’ forgiveness, but it is almost a greater joy to ‘give’ forgiveness.” - Corrie ten Boom

Joann, Hugh, Corrie. They all found a hiding place in the midst of tragedy suffering, and trial. There is a hiding place for you. His name is Jesus.

“But God commandeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8 (KJV) (See also Hebrews 4:15,16)

Run to His grace and mercy and find the Hiding place for your soul and life today.
“Because he has love me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble… and let him behold my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-18.