The Train Ticket

In The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom remembers a conversation with her father that would anchor her faith through the darkest chapter of the twentieth century. As a young girl in Haarlem, Corrie became frightened by the thought of death. She wondered aloud whether she could ever be brave enough to face it. Her father, Casper, a quiet watchmaker with a steady faith, turned the question gently.

"Corrie," he asked, "when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?"

She thought for a moment. "Why, just before we get on the train."

"Exactly," he said. "And our wise Father in Heaven knows when we are going to need things too. Don't run ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes, you will look in your purse and find the ticket."

Years later, inside the concrete walls of Ravensbrück concentration camp, Corrie discovered her father was right. The strength she needed arrived not a moment too soon and not a moment too late — precisely when God knew she would need it.

Trust does not require us to feel ready for tomorrow. It only asks us to believe that the One who holds tomorrow will equip us when we arrive there. The ticket is always on time. You do not need to carry what God has not yet asked you to carry.