Fleas?

Corrie ten Boom's book  The Hiding Place is worth a second or third read. Just to remind ourselves. And if you haven't read it, let me tell you about a part that impacted me. When Corrie and her sister, Betsey, were in a Nazi concentration camp (Ravensbruck), the conditions were dreadful, of course. Not only were they cold, hungry, dirty, and in way too overcrowded conditions, they were also infested by fleas. They had managed to snuggle in a Bible, and as they read it, they realized that they should be thankful for all things. When Betsey decided that meant to thank God for the fleas, Corrie had a problem with that and found it very difficult to do.

Eventually she gave in and joined her sister in thanking God for this miserable part of their lives. But it was amazing to see what God had planned about the fleas. Apparently the guards didn't like fleas either. So they stayed away from the barracks that the women were in. Therefore the women had a lot more freedom––freedom from assault, and freedom to cluster together to study the Bible and to pray. Yes, in the heart of a Nazi concentration camp.

I too find it difficult to give thanks for the hard things, albeit nothing quite so drastic. But so often God eventually allows me to see through the hard things and find the good.