Corrie ten Boom, Her Story (continued)
And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice. ...
Romans 12:1 LB
23. I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go, Dear Lord... but Not Up Ten Flights of Stairs
I HAD SPOKEN that Sunday morning in a church in Copenhagen, Denmark, urging the people to present their bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord. I had said even though I was an old woman that I wanted to give myself completely to Jesus and do whatever He wanted me to do, go wherever He wanted me to go—even if it meant dying.
After the church time, two young nurses approached me. They invited me up to their apartment to have a cup of coffee. I was very tired. At almost eighty years of age I found that standing on my feet for long periods of time was beginning to be exhausting. The cup of coffee sounded good so I accepted their invitation.
But I was not prepared for the walk up to their apartment. Many of the houses in Copenhagen are old, high houses with no elevators. The nurses lived on the tenth floor of such a house and we had to walk up the steps.
"O Lord," I complained as I looked up at the high building, "I do not think I can make it." But the nurses wanted me to come up so badly that I consented to try.
By the time we reached the fifth floor my heart was pounding wildly and my legs were so tired I thought they could not take another step. In the corridor of the fifth floor I saw a chair and pleaded with the Lord, "Lord, let me stay here a time while the nurses go on up the stairs. My heart is so unhappy."
The nurses waited patiently as I collapsed into the chair, resting. "Why, O Lord, must I have this stair-climbing after this busy day of speaking?"
Then I heard God's voice, even louder than my pounding heart. "Because a great blessing is waiting you, a work-which will give joy to the angels."
TRAMP FOR THE LORD 285
I looked up at the steps, towering above me and almost disappearing into the clouds. Perhaps I am leaving this earth to go to heaven, I thought. Surely that will give joy to the angels. I tried to count the steps. It seemed there were at least one hundred more to climb. However, if God said that the work would give joy to the angels, then I had to go. I rose from my chair and once again started trudging up the long flights of stairs, one nurse in front of me, the other behind me.
We finally reached the apartment on the tenth floor and on entering I found a room with a simple lunch already prepared on the table. Serving the lunch were the mother and father of one of the girls.
I knew there was only a short time and also knew that a blessing of some kind was waiting us. So, without many introductions, I started asking immediate questions.
"Tell me," I asked the nurse's mother, "is it long ago that you found Jesus as your Saviour?"
"T have never met Him," she said, surprised at my question. "Are you willing to come to Him? He loves you. I have traveled in more than sixty countries and have never found anyone who said they were sorry they had given their hearts to Jesus. You will not be sorry either."
Then I opened my Bible and pointed out the verses about salvation. She listened intently. Then I asked them, "Shall we now talk with the Lord?"
I prayed, then the two nurses prayed and finally the mother folded her hands and said, "Lord Jesus, I know already much about You. I have read much in the Bible, but now I pray You to come into my heart. I need cleansing and salvation.
I know that You died at the cross for the sins of the whole world and also for my sins. Please, Lord, come into my heart and make me a child of God. Amen."
I looked up and saw tears of joy on the face of the young nurse. She and her friend had prayed so much for her parents and now the answer was given. I turned and looked at the father, who had sat quietly through all this.
"What about you?' I asked him.
"TI have never made such a decision for Jesus Christ either," he said seriously. "But I have listened to all you have told my wife and now I know the way. I, too, would like to pray that Jesus will save me."
He bowed his head and from his lips poured a joyful but very sincere prayer as he gave his life to Jesus Christ. Suddenly the room was filled with great rejoicing and I realized the angels had come down and were standing around, singing praises "unto God.
"Thank You, Lord," I prayed as I walked back down the long steps, "for making me walk up all these steps. And next time, Lord, help Corrie ten Boom listen to her own sermon about being willing to go anywhere You tell me to go—even up ten flights of stairs."