Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Isaiah 50:4-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Lord God has given me
the tongue of a teacher,
that I may know how to sustain
the weary with a word.
Morning by morning he wakens—
wakens my ear
to listen as those who are taught.

The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious,
I did not turn backward.

I gave my back to those who struck me,
and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I did not hide my face
from insult and spitting.

The Lord God helps me;
therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like flint,
and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

he who vindicates me is near.
Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together.
Who are my adversaries?
Let them confront me.

It is the Lord God who helps me;
who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment;
the moth will eat them up.

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Reflect

Many are familiar with the life of Corrie ten Boom through her autobiographical recollections in “The Hiding Place.” In her book, Ms. ten Boom recounts life in Ravensbruk, a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. Corrie and her family, who were Christians, were arrested by Nazi soldiers when it became known they were harboring Jews and people with mental illnesses. As she describes living conditions and abuse in the concentration camp, we can only imagine how horrible it must have been.

Like the Suffering Servant Isaiah refers to, the ten Booms and other prisoners, Jewish and Christian alike, knew from where their help came. In one of the stories in The Hiding Place, Ms. ten Boom recalls how she was able to get a Bible past the guards. We can only imagine how in the secret of their bunks, she sustained the weary and shared the Word with others and reassured them of His presence.

Ms. ten Boom was released from Ravensbruk within a year of her arrest. She eventually made it to the United States where she lived until her death in 1983. It could be said with assurance that she knew it was the Lord who helped her through her long and fulfilling life.

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Pray

Sustainer God, Give us the courage of our ancestors to put all our faith in you no matter the circumstance. Forgive us when we doubt your guidance and forget it is You who helps us.

Go with God!