Christmas is meant to be a season of joy, celebration and hope. But for many people, it can be a time when these things seem remote and unattainable.

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Eighty years ago, Christian heroine Corrie ten Boom found herself spending Christmas in the worst possible circumstances. Though orders were given for her release from Ravensbruck concentration camp, her edema-swollen legs deemed her unfit for discharge. As Christmas Day rolled around, she languished inside a depressing, makeshift hospital, surrounded by the never-ending moans of severely injured women.

The relentless cries of pain were not met with mercy, but rather mocking and scorn from both nurses and patients. In her book The Hiding Place, she writes, “The women were horribly mutilated and in terrible pain, but at each moan two of the nurses jeered and mimicked the sounds. Even in the other patients I saw that stony indifference to others that was the most fatal disease of the concentration camp. I felt it spread to myself: how could one survive if one kept on feeling!”

It would be easy for Corrie to give in to this indifference and inhumanity. After all, she had already lost her sister Betsie a little over a week ago. She could still picture her emaciated body lying on the cold, damp bed. Both had endured months of biting fleas, frigid temperatures, scant food rations and the wrath of cruel guards. Christmas had arrived, but who could tell? What was there to celebrate among such suffering?

An Unexpected Christmas Gift

“Schieber! Schieber!” This unfamiliar German word resounded in Corrie’s ears as she struggled with ways to tune out the agony in her own heart. All night raspy throats repeated it over and over until suddenly she realized what the word meant. Bedpans! These injured women wanted bedpans! In their decrepit condition, none were capable of making it to the latrines next door.

Corrie describes her response. “At last, reluctant to lower my legs, I climbed down from my cot and set about the chore. The gratitude of the patients was heart-wrenching. ‘Who are you? Why are you doing this?’–as though cruelty and callousness were the norm, ordinary decency the marvel.”

An unlikely Christmas gift came to the women in that hospital. Though prior to this moment none had been interested in hearing about the birth of Jesus, they were given a front row seat to his loving kindness.

In her book Christmas Memories, Corrie details another experience which occurred that Christmas. In that same dreary hospital, she heard a little girl nearby calling out. “Mommy! Come to Oelie. Oelie feels so alone.” Realizing this girl’s mother could not come to help her, Corrie got up from her bed to comfort the dying child. Immediately she noticed a large incision on her back covered with toilet paper. Discerning that the child may not survive the night, she knew she must share the gospel.

The Gospel is the Best Christmas Gift

She writes, “That night I told this poor child about Jesus. How He came into the world as a little baby–how He came to save us from our sins. ‘The Lord Jesus loves Oelie and has borne her punishment on the cross. Now Oelie may go to heaven, and Jesus is there right now. He is getting a little house ready for Oelie.’ Later, I asked her what she remembered of what I told her. ‘What is the little house like?’ I asked. ‘It is very beautiful. There are no wicked people as in Ravensbruck–only good people and angels. And Oelie will see Jesus there.’ The child added, ‘I will ask Jesus to make me brave when I have pain. I will think of the pain that Jesus suffered to show Oelie the way to get to heaven.’ Then Oelie folded her hands; together we gave thanks. Then, I knew why I had to spend this Christmas in Ravensbruck in 1944.”

Stories like this remind us that Christmas is so much more than decorations, parties and gifts. Corrie wasn’t sipping cocoa by a hot fire, or taking a lovely carriage ride through the snow. Instead, she was doing the work of Jesus. It was her selfless acts of kindness that shined light in a very dark place.

While most of us cannot say that we’ve lived through the horrors of a concentration camp, we have all endured difficult times in our lives, and as a nation. As American citizens we have become the targets of censorship, lawfare and unrelenting attacks on our faith. We have faced pandemics, mandates and gender ideology. Issues such as abortion, transgender mutilation, antisemitism, rampant drug abuse, open borders, child trafficking and never-ending wars cause deep sadness, instability and anxiety for many, especially those who do not know Jesus Christ.

Corrie ten Boom saw the “stony indifference” that can occur when adversity overwhelms a human being. When people lost hope in the camps, they often lost their humanity. Lost hope became a fatal disease. The cure for this disease has one name–Jesus Christ.

The Light Always Covers Darkness

Isaiah 9:2 says, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of darkness, on them has light shone.

The Christmas season is all about remembering this light we have been given. Even when darkness surrounds us, the Light of the World is with us. Those who have this light should never become indifferent or hopeless in difficult times. It is both the little and big acts of kindness that show people what Christmas is all about.

Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Recalling her time in the camp, Corrie reveals, “Now I know in my experience that Jesus’ light is stronger than the biggest darkness.”

This year at Christmas, as we celebrate the Savior of the World, let us remember that the greatest gift we can give is Jesus Christ. Our nation, our lives and the world are full of troubles, but Jesus has overcome them all.

Lord Jesus, thank you for faith-filled Christians like Corrie ten Boom, whose experiences have taught us that even the worst circumstances cannot snuff out the light within our souls. Help us share the gospel at all times and remember that the greatest gifts are often found in the darkest places.

When have you experienced a dark time at Christmas? How do you deal with difficult circumstances during the holiday season?

Angela Rodriguez is an author, blogger and former teacher who studies the historical and biblical connections between Israel and the United States. You can visit her blogs at 67owls.com and 100trumpets.com. She is also the author of Psalm 91: Under the Wings of Jesus, and her first children’s book, Hallelujah’s Great Ride, was released in September 2023. Photo Credit: Anna Gru on Unsplash.