The Hiding Place

            There are very few movies that I enjoy watching more than once. I think I’ve watched The Sound of Music a couple of times, but the second time through I was only really interested in the songs. But The Hiding Place is one movie I have watched probably seven times. I watched it again last night.

            Yes, I knew what was going to happen next. I knew how it would end. I knew who would live, and who would die. And yet I was glued to the screen for the full two and a half hours. It’s the characters that fascinate me, their responses to the need around them. And then their responses to the pain around them, the suffering that they end up enduring. It horrifies me, and it fascinates me.

            The movie is set in the Netherlands, during the second world war. Two older unmarried ladies, and their father, respond in the way that all Christians should, when the Germans are rounding up the Jews. They find a way to hide some of the Jews from the authorities and help them to escape out of the country. Until this family are caught.

            Suffering horrific abuse at the hand of the Nazis, one sister stays strong in her faith, and the other struggles with hatred. How can she not hate the ones who beat her weak sister, simply because she cannot do strong physical labour? Place yourself in that situation. Someone you love is being beaten in front of you, and you are unable to help.

            As I watched the movie again last night, I focused on the sister who was being unfairly treated and yet did not respond to those who hurt her with anger or hatred. How did she do that? Her response was that the Lord was with her, and that he loved her. Then why wasn’t the Lord protecting her?

            Betsie couldn’t answer that question, yet it did not stop her continuing to trust that God is good, and kind and loving. I mused on how she could feel that way, when circumstances seemed to suggest otherwise.

            When Betsie shared with her sister that the Lord had spoken to her, and she was convinced that both would be free by the new year, I recognised how she could be confident in God’s love. It was because of relationship. She wasn’t just hanging on doggedly to her faith, she was walking with a friend, a friend who spoke to her. Betsie did, however, misinterpret what she felt the Lord saying. She was convinced that she would not die, and sadly that is exactly what did happen. But death did bring her freedom from her suffering.

            Due to a clerical error the other sister, Corrie, was released. This happened just before all prisoners her age were killed.

            After Betsie died, Corrie had continued to help those around her by sharing the truth of the gospel. Betsie had demonstrated that with God’s help it was possible to survive even horrific abuse and still know that you are loved by God.

            I am not suffering. I have had surgery on my back, and I am doing well. My summer has been wonderful. Every day I can spend time reading the Bible and praying. I also spend time listening, longing to hear the Lord speak to me, both through the Bible and through his still small voice. He speaks to me in other ways too, like through the movie last night.

            Before she was put in prison for harbouring Jews, Betsie had lived a pleasant life. She served the Lord and enjoyed her family. And she cultivated a relationship with the Lord. I’m not suggesting that persecution is coming for Christians where I live, but I do recognise the need to work on my relationship with the Lord while I have the time and opportunity to do so. Just because I have no huge needs in my life right now does not mean that I can coast in my relationship with the Lord. I am determined to read my Bible daily, to lift up those I love in prayer, and to remember those who do have way more needs than I do, in different parts of the world. And I will take time to listen, to expect that God wants to speak to me.

            My desire is that Betsie’s testimony lives on in me.