​Have you ever heard the term “Gelassenheit?” In the book, Upon a Spring Breeze, the theme of Gelassenheit runs through the lives of the characters. Gelassenheit is tranquil submission, when “a person who fully yields to Gott (God) accepts suffering without complaining.”

As you can see by the cover of the book, the characters in this wonderful story are Amish. In the past year or so, I’ve read dozens of fiction books about the Amish and I’m drawn to their quiet faith, simple lifestyle, and gentle ways. They still deal with many of the same issues as we “Englishers” do, but because of the simplicity of their lives, they can focus more on God and seeking His will.

The practice of submission is not one people like to talk about. In this story, the central character is Bess, who loses her young husband to a buggy accident and now must deal with a newborn and finding her way through grief and acceptance of what’s happened. As Bess struggles,“she seemed to be the only one who couldn’t accept this as Gott’s will. Where was His compassion, His unfailing wisdom? Taking her mann at the age of twenty-two showed neither. How could these people worship a Gott so cruel?”

I can understand her feelings, can’t you? She encounters various reactions from her family, friends, and community. Some expect her to be stoic and not question. Others understand her loss, but believe she should go on and put it in the past. Those closest to her help her realize, “It’s easy to say what we believe, but living what we believe, well, that’s another pot of potatoes.” (See why I love these books?)

Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” These verses have brought me comfort and strength through many situations in my life when I haven’t understood what God was doing and I struggled myself with acceptance of His will.

A wise friend Bess trusts tells her, “We are honed by the fire. Nowhere in Scripture are we promised a life without pain or heartache or problems. This life will be full of problems. The one guarantee we have is that Gott knows and He sees. He watches and waits to see how we will react. Will we fuss and whine or put our shoulder into the burden and carry on?” Wow! Isn’t that the picture of submission?

I don’t know about you, but submission can be really hard for me at times. I’ve learned through the difficult situations I’ve encountered, though, submitting to His will is the best place I can be. It puts me in a place where He can work and teaches me patience to wait on Him. Psalm 130 is one of my favorites and I especially love these verses: (130:1-2) “Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! O LORD, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!” (130:5) “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope.” (130:7) “…hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.”

Another word for hope is “rely.” Reliance is what submission is all about. We have to rely on God for everything—He is the source of all we have, need, hope for, and desire. Submission to His ways and His will is the only way we can go on when things seem insurmountable. In the end, there is always the promise of His steadfast love and redemption. Steadfast is defined as “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.” That means no matter how I react, He loves me with so great a love I cannot truly comprehend it, but it never wavers. And redemption—that means He will turn everything bad into something so beautiful, we cannot even imagine.

Something else I learned through reading this book is to be patient with those around us who are going through a tough time. The people surrounding Bess expect her to react as they would, but everyone doesn’t have faith to the same degree, so we are called to treat others with gentleness and understanding, and pray for them to accept how God is working in their life and can come to the place where they can submit in Gelassenheit, tranquil submission.

I hope you’ll take the time to read Bess’s story. I know it will bless you as it did me, but even more importantly, I know it will show you the wonder and beauty of our God in a new way, and the wonder and beauty of Gelassenheit.

Blessings to you!
Lori  

​​"The experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do.” These insightful words were spoken by Corrie Ten Boom in her book, The Hiding Place, a biographical account of her imprisonment in a concentration camp during World War II.

I read this book back in high school and have lost count of how many other I times I’ve gone back to reread it. Each time, it affects me differently, depending on what’s going on in my life.
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This time, I was impressed anew at how God works in the lives of His children and the many ways He protects us. Nothing is impossible with our God! When she arrived at the camp, Corrie smuggled in a Bible by hiding it in a pouch around her neck. Even when she was strip-searched in the showers, God blinded the guards’ eyes so they didn’t see it.

God blessed the two sisters by allowing them to stay together. When one sister became discouraged as they suffered through hunger, nakedness, mistreatment, and fear of death, the other would find something to be thankful for. Betsie told Corrie, “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings, Corrie. It’s something we make inside ourselves.”

Who would believe God could be found, or even work, in such a place of overwhelming misery, pointless suffering, and needless death? Corrie related experience after experience where God let them know He was right there with them; He hadn’t forgotten or forsaken them. In the midst of struggling with feelings of hatred, anger, and pain, she came to realize, “The real sin lay in thinking that any power to help and transform came from me. Of course, it was not my wholeness, but Christ’s that made the difference.”

One of the most compelling accounts of God at work—and showed God has a sense of humor--is when Corrie complained to Betsie about swarms of fleas in the straw that covered the platforms they used as beds. It was just one more indignity to deal with, and she felt there was no way God could make her grateful for a flea. Betsie reminded her the Bible says (in 1 Thessalonians 5:18) to “give thanks in all circumstances…It doesn’t say ‘in pleasant circumstances.’” What seemed like a nuisance became a blessing! The guards wouldn’t come into their barracks for fear of catching the fleas, so it kept the women from being abused and harassed, and allowed them to have Bible studies, letting the other inmates hear the comforting and life-giving Word of God to meet their deepest needs.
 
In this life, no one escapes difficult circumstances—unemployment, death of a loved one, financial struggles, relationship issues, troubled children, chronic illness—the list goes on. God reassures us in Isaiah 43:1b – 3a: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
 
Corrie rested in God’s sovereignty, knowing “His timing is perfect. His will is our hiding place.” While it’s not easy, we can do the same. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 tells us: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” May you be encouraged and strengthened!

Blessings to you!
Lori