Fleas… and Corrie Ten Boom!

Hi folks, I hope you are well! This weeks blog comes from Glenn, we meet at the Kittiwake at 8.00pm, we hope you can join us.

Corrie Ten Boom’s family helped Dutch Jews escape the Nazi’s during the Second World War. They were eventually caught and Corrie was sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp with her sister Betsie. Throughout her time there, through unimaginable horrors, Corrie maintained an unshakeable trust in God and the power of prayer. She seems to have lived in an almost continual conversation with God, asking and trusting him for everything. “Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made a burden” she said.

With their faith and prayers supporting them, Corrie and Betsie lived happily amongst the horror, until they were transferred to a barracks that was infested with fleas. What possible purpose could God have in letting their situation get worse? After a while they realised that the camp guards didn’t enter the barracks, allowing the sisters to continue talking to the other inmates about God and helping them as much as they could. The reason the guards wouldn’t enter was because of the fleas.

Betsie re-read the bible verse they had read that morning 1 Thessalonians 16-18; Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. From that point on Corrie and Betsie even gave thanks for the fleas.

Questions

Things can only get better, sang Professor Brian Cox’s old band D:Ream, do you have a favourite song that can be used as a prayer?

How does reading about someone with so much faith, like Corrie Ten Boom, make you feel?

Do you believe prayer works?

Does praying help you cope with troubles, regardless of the answer to the prayer?

Are you in continual conversation with God, or is prayer reserved for a specific time in the day?

Would you give thanks for fleas?