And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
I walk the short walk to the train station, being careful as I cross the plethora of bike lanes to not get run over by a speeding bike. Buying a round trip ticket from the kiosk is surprisingly easy. Figuring out which platform is a bit more challenging. The helpful man at the information desk points me in the right direction and after waiting just a few minutes, I’m off from Amsterdam’s Centraal station. Twenty-five minutes later, I arrive at my stop. I walk out of the station like I know what I’m doing (I don’t) but, having studied Google maps earlier, I find with the help of posted signs, the Moulen de Adriaan, a windmill built in 1779 that sits right on the edge of one of Haarlem’s many canals. Lots of photo opps are to be had and after a while, I walk the ten minutes to my ultimate destination in this picturesque town.
A line is starting to form at the entrance. With ticket in hand, I’m somewhat confident I will be one of the twenty people admitted for the guided tour. The narrow house-turned-museum is typically Dutch and as I enter the front door when the line moves forward, I climb the steep, twisting, and narrow staircase to the single room on the next floor. A circle of chairs borders the walls of this living room. The guide begins to tell the story of this house’s most well-known resident and her family.
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman living here in Haarlem with her father and elder sister at the time of the Nazi occupation. Her father, a watchmaker, had his shop on the first floor. He was known in the community for being a man of faith, a Christian, and for being kind to all people regardless of their backgrounds or religion. Corrie herself had started a ministry to young women and also to the mentally challenged. One day, a well-dressed woman appeared on their doorstep with a suitcase in hand and asked if they would take her in. She was Jewish and was trying to escape her Nazi pursuers. Being the kind people that they were, they invited her in. A few days later, more people arrived on their doorstep and asked to stay there. Soon, the ten Booms were working with the Dutch resistance and were central to a ring of underground workers helping Jews and other refugees to escape occupied Holland. A fake wall was built in Corrie’s room where six people could hide if they stood side by side. Ultimately, a Dutch collaborator informed the police of their underground activities and the ten Booms were arrested. Her father died soon afterward while Corrie and her sister Betsie were transported to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp in Germany. Betsie’s faith helped Corrie realize that God was with them in their darkest hour. After Betsie became ill, she had a vision of Corrie telling their story of God’s love after the war. She died soon after and within two weeks, Corrie was miraculously released from Ravensbrück (later she learned it was a clerical error). Corrie brought Betsie’s vision to fruition by creating a home for those seeking to be healed from the emotional scars of the war. Corrie also turned a former concentration camp into a place of healing. She wrote numerous books and traveled around the world as she told the story of God’s presence and provision during their darkest times. The ten Booms lived out their Christian faith by showing love and kindness to those in need and as a result, over 800 Jews and refugees were saved while countless others, especially other prisoners at Ravensbrück, came to know the God who loved them. Corrie found her purpose in the stench of a horrific death camp and lived out this God-given purpose by sharing His love, healing, and forgiveness.
Having read Corrie’s autobiography called The Hiding Place many years ago, I am familiar with her story but it comes to life in the words of our Dutch guide and in the rooms where she lived and worked. The guide shows us an embroidered piece of cloth and tells us that Corrie created this tapestry and took it with her to her speaking engagements. It is difficult to figure out what the embroidery is as there are colorful strings everywhere and knots and loops. It isn’t until the guide turns the cloth over that I realize the embroidery is of a gold crown set with lots of colorful jewels. To Corrie, the embroidery represented life and each colorful thread represented an event or circumstance, each of which had a purpose. We, with our human eyes and finite understanding, only see the underside with the knots and loose threads hanging. God sees the masterpiece on the other side.
Often in doubt, fear, and despair, Corrie found hope, strength, and courage in God to do what He called her to do. God's plans and purposes would not be thwarted. Time and time again, Corrie experienced God’s intervention even in the most horrendous of circumstances. In the process, Corrie grew in her faith as she saw miracle after miracle of God's presence, provision, and protection. She experienced God’s love in the darkest of places. Although she wondered many times why things happened as they had, she learned that when we allow God to use our experiences, they become the perfect preparation for what He has called us to do.
In the midst of life and particularly in suffering, we may not realize that everything has a purpose and that God weaves all these threads of different experiences together for our good, to transform us spiritually into who He wants us to be and to prepare us for the work He has for us to do. Only when we get to heaven will we see the crown that was forged through all our trials, tribulations, and sufferings and then we will fully understand that every thread on the underside has a purpose as God weaves a masterpiece on the other side.
Heavenly Father, You are the Master Weaver. You take our trials and tribulations, even our joys and praises, and weave them with purpose into our lives. While I may not know this side of heaven the reason for events in my life, help me to trust You more as You work to create a masterpiece from the tangled threads of my life. Amen.
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Text and photograph copyright © 2019 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of Moulen de (Windmill of) Adriaan, Haarlem, The Netherlands.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Photo of canal in Haarlem:
I walk the short walk to the train station, being careful as I cross the plethora of bike lanes to not get run over by a speeding bike. Buying a round trip ticket from the kiosk is surprisingly easy. Figuring out which platform is a bit more challenging. The helpful man at the information desk points me in the right direction and after waiting just a few minutes, I’m off from Amsterdam’s Centraal station. Twenty-five minutes later, I arrive at my stop. I walk out of the station like I know what I’m doing (I don’t) but, having studied Google maps earlier, I find with the help of posted signs, the Moulen de Adriaan, a windmill built in 1779 that sits right on the edge of one of Haarlem’s many canals. Lots of photo opps are to be had and after a while, I walk the ten minutes to my ultimate destination in this picturesque town.
A line is starting to form at the entrance. With ticket in hand, I’m somewhat confident I will be one of the twenty people admitted for the guided tour. The narrow house-turned-museum is typically Dutch and as I enter the front door when the line moves forward, I climb the steep, twisting, and narrow staircase to the single room on the next floor. A circle of chairs borders the walls of this living room. The guide begins to tell the story of this house’s most well-known resident and her family.
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch woman living here in Haarlem with her father and elder sister at the time of the Nazi occupation. Her father, a watchmaker, had his shop on the first floor. He was known in the community for being a man of faith, a Christian, and for being kind to all people regardless of their backgrounds or religion. Corrie herself had started a ministry to young women and also to the mentally challenged. One day, a well-dressed woman appeared on their doorstep with a suitcase in hand and asked if they would take her in. She was Jewish and was trying to escape her Nazi pursuers. Being the kind people that they were, they invited her in. A few days later, more people arrived on their doorstep and asked to stay there. Soon, the ten Booms were working with the Dutch resistance and were central to a ring of underground workers helping Jews and other refugees to escape occupied Holland. A fake wall was built in Corrie’s room where six people could hide if they stood side by side. Ultimately, a Dutch collaborator informed the police of their underground activities and the ten Booms were arrested. Her father died soon afterward while Corrie and her sister Betsie were transported to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp in Germany. Betsie’s faith helped Corrie realize that God was with them in their darkest hour. After Betsie became ill, she had a vision of Corrie telling their story of God’s love after the war. She died soon after and within two weeks, Corrie was miraculously released from Ravensbrück (later she learned it was a clerical error). Corrie brought Betsie’s vision to fruition by creating a home for those seeking to be healed from the emotional scars of the war. Corrie also turned a former concentration camp into a place of healing. She wrote numerous books and traveled around the world as she told the story of God’s presence and provision during their darkest times. The ten Booms lived out their Christian faith by showing love and kindness to those in need and as a result, over 800 Jews and refugees were saved while countless others, especially other prisoners at Ravensbrück, came to know the God who loved them. Corrie found her purpose in the stench of a horrific death camp and lived out this God-given purpose by sharing His love, healing, and forgiveness.
Having read Corrie’s autobiography called The Hiding Place many years ago, I am familiar with her story but it comes to life in the words of our Dutch guide and in the rooms where she lived and worked. The guide shows us an embroidered piece of cloth and tells us that Corrie created this tapestry and took it with her to her speaking engagements. It is difficult to figure out what the embroidery is as there are colorful strings everywhere and knots and loops. It isn’t until the guide turns the cloth over that I realize the embroidery is of a gold crown set with lots of colorful jewels. To Corrie, the embroidery represented life and each colorful thread represented an event or circumstance, each of which had a purpose. We, with our human eyes and finite understanding, only see the underside with the knots and loose threads hanging. God sees the masterpiece on the other side.
Often in doubt, fear, and despair, Corrie found hope, strength, and courage in God to do what He called her to do. God's plans and purposes would not be thwarted. Time and time again, Corrie experienced God’s intervention even in the most horrendous of circumstances. In the process, Corrie grew in her faith as she saw miracle after miracle of God's presence, provision, and protection. She experienced God’s love in the darkest of places. Although she wondered many times why things happened as they had, she learned that when we allow God to use our experiences, they become the perfect preparation for what He has called us to do.
In the midst of life and particularly in suffering, we may not realize that everything has a purpose and that God weaves all these threads of different experiences together for our good, to transform us spiritually into who He wants us to be and to prepare us for the work He has for us to do. Only when we get to heaven will we see the crown that was forged through all our trials, tribulations, and sufferings and then we will fully understand that every thread on the underside has a purpose as God weaves a masterpiece on the other side.
Heavenly Father, You are the Master Weaver. You take our trials and tribulations, even our joys and praises, and weave them with purpose into our lives. While I may not know this side of heaven the reason for events in my life, help me to trust You more as You work to create a masterpiece from the tangled threads of my life. Amen.
Want to subscribe to future posts? Click here.
Text and photograph copyright © 2019 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of Moulen de (Windmill of) Adriaan, Haarlem, The Netherlands.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Photo of canal in Haarlem:
Note: Corrie ten Boom often recited the following poem in her talks around the world as she held the embroidery for the audience to see. The Weaver is credited to Grant Colfax Tullar as author. Here it is:
“My life is but a weaving between my God and me,
I do not choose the colours, He works so steadily.
Oft times He weaves in sorrow, I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.”
“My life is but a weaving between my God and me,
I do not choose the colours, He works so steadily.
Oft times He weaves in sorrow, I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.”
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