Secrecy!  It can really raise some eyebrows!  People generally don’t like secretiveness (unless you are the one being secretive)!  Actually, different forms of the word “secret” can conjure all kinds of imagery for people.  It can infer being underhanded, hush-hush, sly, or covert, giving the impression of hiding something by keeping it secret.  Secretiveness can keep people on edge or uneasy because mystery, privacy, or exclusivity is involved. We generally get irritated if people “keep secrets” from us, assuming we are being left out or they are up to “no good”.  Sometimes the contents of secrets can be good like a surprise or a little-known technique or approach to making something a success such as “The secret to Grandma’s banana bread is….”  But if we don’t like secrets, even these would be perceived as “bad”.  

The Bible also talks about secrets and secret places!  For example there are things God tells us we need to do in secret (that is for the next blog).  But the more I read about secrets in the Word of God the more I want and need to get away in secret with Him, and of course, that is exactly what He wants us to do!  He has a secret place reserved for use. In God’s economy, much of our life in Him is grounded in secrecy!  But in God’s terminology secrecy doesn’t include exclusivity or imply anything underhanded. No – instead God talks about His secret place where He longs to meet and protect anyone who wants to run to Him and share in His secret place!  Everyone can have access to it through faith in Jesus Christ because He made a way and no one need be excluded.

His Word confirms we can find Him in His secret place where He will hide us.  Psalm 27:5 “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.” This secret place with God is a place of protection and defense where our enemy cannot find us.  I like the sound of that place very much! We are confident because it is a restricted area where Satan and his cohorts are not allowed!  It is a private, secure, “secret” place!   We go to this place to be hidden in God where He sets us high up, out of the reach of our enemy.  I don’t know about you but I need to be in that place more often.  The concerns of this world, sickness, disease, pain, hurt, slander, ambivalence, complacency, anger, bitterness, and so many other enemies to our souls attack at a rate it feels impossible to keep up with!  Though we can stand against them all, knowing there is a secret place we can go to in this ever-present time of trouble is exciting and comforting at the same time. It is a place of quietness and stillness where troubles cannot come!

In 2 Kings 11:3 we are told about Joash, a descendant of David who was hidden in the house of the Lord for six years where he was not only preserved from the sword but reserved for the crown.  Today we are preserved and reserved for God’s purposes not within the walls of a church building but within the arms of a God who saves! Our comfort is found only in communion with Him. How incredibly safe the secret place of the Most High truly is! Proverbs 18:10 “The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe!”

The secret place provides two benefits to those who choose to find it. It is a place of communion where we know and grow in God (dwelling) and it is a place of protection (abiding under). Psalm 91:1 “He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”   People who choose to live a life of communion with God are continually safe under His protection.  Those who by faith choose God as their Guardian, Lord, and Savior will dwell,  “sit down” and stay in communion with Him thus they can expect to experience serenity and security of mind at all times.  It is in our character as true believers to be at home with God, always returning to Him, longing to be within the veil to worship and be alone with Him, conversing in solitude.   This dwelling gives us the privilege and comfort to “abide” under His shelter where He comes between us and everything that annoys, aggravates, and frustrates us.  Not only do we have admittance into God’s secret place but we have residence there and receive both rest and refuge at all times.    

Understanding this communion in the secret place is much like living in a godly marriage on earth!   Marriages are grown, watered, and nurtured in the secret places of life. The intimacy shared in a godly marriage is meant to be “in secret” where we explore the depths of one another physically, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.  The more time we spend intimately, the more stable, safe, and secure we are out in a world that wants to separate and destroy our intimacy.  What we “see” in the interactions between married couples publicly is the result of what husbands and wives do in the secret place.  Married couples cannot spend every moment of every day in the physical presence of one another, yet they are never far apart in thought.  The more time couples spend together in their “secret place” the more they dwell together, return and be at home with one another, long to be alone and conversing in solitude together, the safer they feel, the more they trust each other, and the more their relationship will stand against everything that upsets, provokes, and riles them in the world.

So it is with God.  Our life in Christ “out there” for the world to see can be directly traced back to what happens in secret with Him.  If we haven’t been knowing and growing our relationship in the secret with God, exploring His depths physically, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually, the world will successfully cause us to doubt and question this love relationship we share with our Lord and Savior.

We can also understand this secret place in botanical terms. Growth in plants, trees, flowers, vegetables and the like all start in the secret place with the fruit, leaves, or blooms eventually being exposed and useful out in public. But the miracle of growth happens in the soil where we cannot “see” what is happening!  We plant a seed (which is dead) and it miraculously opens underground, and pushes forth a sprout which can be seen.  But while the plant is growing up visibly before our eyes, its roots are going deeper and spreading out wider underneath, with double the growth occurring underground than above ground. 

So it is in the secret place with God.  We die to ourselves when we are reborn in Christ and the miracle begins.  As we spend time in the secret with our Lord through the power of His Spirit we open up and become what He created us to be.  We spring up and come forth as He molds and makes us. The deeper we get into Him and His Word, the more solid we become because our roots take hold and spread, grabbing hold of more of His richness.  The more time we spend in Him, the stronger and more stable we become.  What people see in us on the outside can only be measured by “if” and “how much” time we are spending with the Lord in His secret place! 

You see we cannot possibly become all He created us to be without the secret place.  Things and people in this world bring fear, uncertainty, worry, stress, ungodly desires, and so much more that disrupt and takes us completely out of God’s will and purpose for our lives.  We need a place to go to and be protected as we grow and live with Him even as we live on this earth.  Our spirits can engage with Holy Spirit all day, every day even when our minds and bodies are working, resting, and being!  We must dwell and abide in the secret place with our Protector! He is all things to those who believe and receive Him.

And lest you think the secret place can only be attained solo, think again!  You can find Him in His secret place in the body of believers, in worship, bible study, in corporate prayer, in the fellowship of the saints!  It is through this communion with one another we learn how precious our communion with God truly is!  It is another amazing thing about God!  You can be surrounded by hundreds or even thousands of people and still be alone with God!  And each of them can be alone with Him at the same time!  And all together with Him too!  Oh how amazing He is! So now that you know there is a secret place to go and meet with God – Go!  Enjoy! Be safe! Be surrounded! Know there is much to do out in the world so that Jesus would be known!  Abiding in the secret place with Him will cause your growth to literally be out of this world!