The Watchmaker's Home That Was Ready Before the Storm

In the Dutch city of Haarlem, Casper ten Boom ran a small watch shop called the Beje. For decades before the Second World War, the ten Boom family opened their home to anyone in need — Jewish neighbors, struggling families, lonely strangers. Every evening, Casper gathered his household for Scripture reading and prayer. He taught his children that every human being was precious to God and that their home belonged not to them, but to the Almighty.

When the Nazi occupation descended on the Netherlands in 1940, the ten Boom family did not need to decide what kind of people they would be. That had already been settled. The hidden room behind Corrie's bedroom wall sheltered hundreds of Jewish refugees because God had been shaping that family's character for generations. Their purpose was written before the crisis arrived.

Paul tells the Ephesians that God "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" and "predestined us to adoption as sons" according to the good pleasure of His will. This is the staggering claim of the gospel — that God's love for you is not a reaction to your performance. It is not an afterthought. Before you drew your first breath, before the world's foundations were laid, He had already set His affection upon you, already prepared the inheritance, already called you His own. You were chosen before the doors of history ever opened.