God's Secret Place
Introduction
We have all had the experience of playing hide-and-seek at some point in our life. As a child, we played it for fun. As an adult, we play it because our memories can no longer retain the knowledge of where we placed something. I can still recall playing the game as a small child at my grandmother's house. When we gathered there on Sunday afternoons, there were typically about 30 grandchildren present. Beneath her house was a neat area she called her cellar. I alone had knowledge of the key to her cellar. Victories were quite frequent for me. It was so enjoyable trying to fight a giggle as you watched your "hunter" pass you by unable to see you while you are able to view them. It became my personal secret place.
As you study scripture, the one thing that seems to raise men and women above the level of spiritual mediocrity is their knowledge of the secret place. The psalmist understood the importance of the secret place. In Psalm 91:1 he writes, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." It was there he learned to abide. It was there he found a restful confidence. It was there he gained a peaceful assurance.
Tragically, most of us will live our life and either never discover the uniqueness of the secret place of God or we will never utilize the strength found there. Like a pinball, we will aimlessly wander from event to event in life until we drop out of sight. Just how do we find the secret place of God? What can we expect should we find it?
I. A Marked Place
The secret place of God is a marked place. David found the secret place on roof tops, mountain tops, caves, the wilderness, shepherding fields, as well as the temple. What had David learned? God has a secret place just when your life needs it most.
While our lives are destined to face discouragement, tears, disappointments, fears, and pain, there is marked a secret place for every need that arises. The discovery of such a place is not near as much about you and I finding "it" as it is about Him finding us! Those who have all the answers in life never recognize the secret place, but those with needs discover its solace.
II. A Mobile Place
The secret place of God is a mobile place. Elijah learned this about the secret place. At brook Cherith, it was either follow the secret place or die with the ravens.
No one will ever corner the market or turn God's secret place into an amusement park. It is constantly on the move and always changing. At best, we are afforded a glimpse of His "hinder parts" as He passes by, only to see Him continue on. Why is that so? God simply desires to lead our lives in forward progress. For you and I to "dwell" in the secret place of God will call for a life of constant pursuit. Motionless lives are lives that keep God at arms length and merely know Him by name only.
III. A Mysterious Place
The secret place of God is a mysterious place. As the life of Moses came to a close, we find him alone in the secret place of God. After a conversation I would give my eyeteeth to have heard, God buries Moses, "..but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
Do you understand how no weapon formed against you will prosper? You cannot harm that which you cannot see or find! In the secret place of God, access is denied to anything and anyone else in the world...except us. There, we find more than a hiding place. We find a place where the Almighty pauses just for us.
I have found the secret place beneath waterfalls, in front of crackling fireplaces, in open fields, in restrooms beside a doctor's office. I have prayed there, laughed there, wept there, rejoiced there, and sat in awe there. It is there that my smallness has come clearly into view, and His largeness takes my breath away.
I suppose what has amazed me most in the secret place of God is to discover it was not nearly as much about me becoming consumed with Him as it is Him becoming consumed with me! What else happens there you ask? Well, let's just say that is our secret. Why don't you come find out for yourself what is found in the secret place?