Power Steering

Year 7-Day 115: Today, I am grateful for power steering.

I am old enough to remember when power steering as a standard feature in vehicles was talked about and advertised as a feature for selling. Today, it is the standard. What is power steering? If you have ever had it go out in a car, you know.

Power Steering is the mechanism that reduces steering effort on a steering wheel. Driver's use less effort to turn the wheel when driving at typical speeds, and reduces the physical effort necessary to turn the steering wheels when a vehicle is stopped or moving slowly. Once a luxury, it is now a standard feature. 

Corrie Ten Boom quotes are some of my favorites. Corrie was witty, sassy and so spiritually grounded and insightful that she never ceases to blow me away when I uncover a new nugget of her wisdom. This on hit the mark today. 

"Is prayer your steering wheel, or your spare tire?" —Corrie Ten Boom (author of "The Hiding Place")

Corrie Ten Boom was a WW2 concentration camp survivor. Before her arrest, she was the first licensed woman watchmaker in the Netherlands, following in her father's footsteps. Their devout faith in God and knowledge of the Bible meant they understood that the Israelites we God's chosen people. Hitler's genocide of the the mentally disabled, who were by design forever children, was an abomination to God. His campaign against all Jews was ludicrous.  

The Ten Boom family could not sit idly by. Their ties in the community were deep. They walked and talked like Jesus. They served the least of these... and the wealthy, too. 

Corrie was a powerful prayer warrior. When she and her sister, Betsie, were arrested for assisting Jews, she spent a month is solitary confinement. When she had her first "day in court"... and it was a kangaroo court... she was questioned about her many years volunteering to help the mentally challenged and disabled. This was her gutsy response to her interrogators at her first trial:

 "In the eyes of God, a mentally disabled person might be more valuable "than a watchmaker. Or a lieutenant." (Women Heroes of WW2 by Kathryn Atwood)

They should have recognized that Corrie was out of their league. Even in prison and Ravensbrück concentration camp, she was constantly encouraging others and making a difference. She is one of the most beautiful women in history. Not for her face... although her face radiated joy... but for her heart. Prayer was her steering wheel. 

She didn't look for God when she had troubles. She talked to him intimately every day, throughout the day. The Holy Spirit was her comforter and her guide. Jesus was always with her. In the good days and the hard ones, Corrie had power steering. 

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." -Romans 12:12 

We, too, have access to power steering. Prayer is a front line offensive action... not a last resort.  

Today, I am grateful for power steering.