Stories of Hope – Fuel for the fire
A couple of years ago during a holiday to Amsterdam, I went to visit the home of Corrie Ten Boom. Friends of ours had recommended a visit to her house in Haarlem, where a tour guide shared the story of Corrie’s life. As I listened to the tour guide share the story of Corrie’s life, her courage and saw Corrie’s room where she hid several Jews to protect them from the Nazi’s, I was so captured by the story. Corrie’s courage inspired me, but even more than that her faith and commitment to God stirred my heart and touched my spirit. It did so because it reminded me of the difference that faith in God can make to a person, and it also reminded me what God can do.
One of the stories our guide shared that day, which is written about in the well-known book of Corrie’s, ‘The Hiding Place’, was of the time when Corrie was in the concentration camp with her sister Betsie. Betsie had managed to bring into the concentration camp a small bottle of vitamin drops. Many of those in the concentration camp would come and ask for a drop from the small bottle to help preserve their own health. Betsie never refused, although her need too was great. To her amazement, the small bottle of vitamin drops did not run out, and she and Corrie thanked God for His provision.
This story reminds me of the Widow at Zarephath as recorded in 1 Kings 17. The widow had very little for there was a drought in the land, and when Elijah came asking for the bread she did not refuse him. Elijah gave her a message from God, “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” (1 Kings 17:14) Here again, the miracle of God’s provision is clear and there is a reminder too that if God promises something, He will surely do it.
When we share stories of our own and other people’s faith journey and bring to mind those things that God has done and been to us, something happens inside of us. It’s like the fire within us is fuelled; the embers which have sometimes faded to a mere flicker are reignited and hope starts to rise within us. In the same way that the disciples on the Emmaus road described their hearts burning within them as Jesus shared the scriptures with them (Luke 24:32), so we too need to hear and share stories of faith and hope with each other, that remind us of who God is, and what He can do.
I wonder what stories of hope and faith stir your heart and what difference that makes to you? Life can be tricky, the days can be long and, perhaps especially a the moment, monotonous too. Maybe today is a good day to bring to mind a story of hope, sometimes which adds fuel to your fire, something which reignites your faith, or gets you thinking more deeply about what life is really all about. And as you do this maybe it’s worth asking God to show you something of who He is or could be to you.
Maybe today is a good time to let Him remind you of who He has been to you in the past, and allow Him to speak to you of His promise for the future. In all things, through the stories of our lives and through our journey of faith, whatever that may look or feel like today, God is surely with us, now and always.
