June 11, 2026
A Prisoner, Yet Free
By Michael A. Youssef, Ph.D.
During the Second World War, Corrie ten Boom and her family realized the risks associated with hiding and protecting Jewish citizens. However, in a small, hidden room in the ten Boom home above the father’s watch shop, men and women found temporary refuge from Hitler’s wicked pursuit. Once they secured safe passage out of the country, they would leave, but there was always a steady flow of others coming to find a place of safety.
In her book The Hiding Place, Corrie tells how most of her family were captured and sent to a concentration camp. The conditions in the camp were deplorable and beyond anything she thought she could bear.
Watching her beloved sister waste away and then die seemed like the final blow to her heart. Had God forgotten her? She was a believer and only had done what she and her family felt He was leading them to do. How did she end up a prisoner?
From our perspective, most of life’s tragedies do not make sense as we suffer in this fallen world. And so Corrie struggled to make sense of her imprisonment until one day she realized God’s grace truly was her strength and salvation.
“It was dark in my cell,” Corrie wrote. “I talked with my Savior. Never before had fellowship with Him been so close. It was a joy that I hoped would continue unchanged. I was a prisoner—and yet . . . how free!”
A day before her scheduled execution, Corrie was set free. Remember, no matter the outcome, God has not abandoned you. He is right beside you just as He was with Corrie in her darkest times. May we walk through trials with the confidence of Paul, saying, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17).
Prayer: Lord, I know Your love for me drives the darkness of this world away. I know that You will never leave me! Thank You. Help me to find comfort in this Truth, no matter how dark the situation may be. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“[E]ven the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Psalm 139:12).
Learn more in Dr. Michael A. Youssef’s sermon Joseph: Portrait of a Winner, Winners Don’t Always Look like Winners: LISTEN NOW
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