"If you make the Most High your dwelling...then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."
Psalm 91: 9-11
When I read this passage, I think about Bessie Ten Boom, sister of Corrie Ten Boom, author of "The Hiding Place". Their family hid Jews in their Dutch home during the Nazi Holocaust and were taken to a concentration camp. Bessie had always made the Most High her dwelling place, yet disaster did befall her when she was taken from her home, mistreated, abused and killed by the hate of the Nazis for no reason. So, I ask where the angels were when she was not only "striking her foot against a stone", but suffering miserably, mocked and mistreated, starved and stripped bare of all human dignity?
Verse 15 of that same Psalm says, "He will call upon me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble."
Really? From the surface, anyone would agree it seems God let Bessie down. Even her sister, Corrie, also a Christian suffering by her side, may have agreed, yet here is where the true nuggets of treasure are buried: in Bessie's soul, where the Most High dwelt, where the scorn of the enemy could not affect. This was the tabernacle of safekeeping where Bessie drew encouragement as she continued to hold Bible studies in the lice-infested barracks. This is the spot where the angels guarded her against attack by the enemy who could have penetrated her heart for all eternity with bitterness, rage and hopelessness. Ultimately, this is the reason why she had a look of peace upon her sunken face as her soul departed her abused, earthen tent as Corrie espied through the window.
How could anyone die in peace in a Nazi death camp? By trusting in Jesus to take you by his nail-scarred hand, smoothing your hair with the kisses of salvation and tenderly wiping your tears away forever.
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