Deeper Still
In September of 1944, Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie arrived at Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp for women. They entered a world of atrocities, starvation, disease, and death, a place intended not only to imprison the body, but to crush the spirit. But, even there, God was at work.
When the prisoners were searched, Corrie miraculously passed through inspection with a small Bible hidden beneath her dress. In Barracks 28, that Bible became the center of secret worship services. Women crowded around as Corrie and Betsie read Scripture in Dutch, and others translated it into German, French, Polish, Russian, and Czech so that all could participate.
Their barracks was overcrowded and infested with fleas. Initially, Corrie could not understand why Betsie insisted that they thank God even for the fleas. Betsie did not know why either. She only knew that Scripture told them to give thanks in all circumstances. They later discovered that the guards avoided their barracks because of the fleas. The fleas had created an unlikely sanctuary where the women could read the Bible and pray.
God’s presence was revealed through the Bible, the fleas, and the secret gatherings. But the clearest evidence of His presence was Betsie herself, whose heart remained unconquered.
The cruelty did not make her cruel. The hatred did not make her hate. The brutality surrounding her could not inhabit her.
As her own body weakened, Betsie continued to care for the women around her and pray for the guards. She shared detailed visions of a future home where former prisoners could heal and those shaped by Nazi hatred could learn to love again. A place of refuge for both those wounded by hatred and those consumed by it.
Ravensbruck could imprison Betsie and eventually take her life, but it could not dim the love of God within her. Against the backdrop of evil, God’s love shone through her more brightly than ever. Her life brings to mind John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Shortly before she died, Betsie told Corrie, “We must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.”
Betsie did not live to carry that message beyond Ravensbruck, so Corrie carried it for her. After the war, Corrie was offered a house that matched the one Betsie had described in her visions, down to its distinctive features. Corrie established a rehabilitation center there for concentration camp survivors and later also helped people who had collaborated with the Nazis. Through Corrie, the inextinguishable love Betsie carried reached people around the world.
Psalm 139 asks, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” If we rise on the wings of the morning or settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there God is with us. His hand will lead us and hold us fast.
Betsie’s life gave witness to that truth. She entered one of the darkest places man ever created and discovered that God was there, making a way forward one moment at a time. Whatever pit we may find ourselves in, we are never beyond His reach. The pit may be deep, but His love is deeper still.
The Lagniappe
Enjoy “Where Can I Go?” written by Gena Bradford and performed by Christine Young.
The Story Behind The Song
The story behind “Where Can I Go?” is found in Psalm 139. Written by Gena Bradford and performed by Christine Young, the song gives voice to David’s wonder that nowhere is beyond God’s presence. At every height and depth, even at the farthest edge of the sea, His hand is there to guide and support us.
“I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.”
Psalm 139:7–10 NLT
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