The secret place is God’s favorite place. Jesus said that is where He is (Matt. 6:6). Every servant that God uses is trained in the secret place. They have proven themselves faithful apart from the eyes of men. Obedience there is the route to promotion.
God has His eyes trained on the secret place. The greatest battles are fought and the greatest victories are won in secret. Abraham proved he was a friend of God in the secret place. Jacob prevailed with God and man because of a sleepless night in the secret place. The ministry of Jesus was given the green light after He endured the epic showdown in the lonely wilderness. His greatest battle was fought in the dark garden of Gethsemane, apart from the eyes of even His closest disciples who remained oblivious to His struggle.
The greatest battles are fought and the greatest victories are won in secret.
The secret place ceases to be the secret place when we noise abroad what is going on there. God wants some things to be kept between Him and us alone. In the secret place we deal one on one with the living God. We dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. We say of the Lord, “He is our Refuge, our God in whom we trust.” We have no company in the secret place other than our God. There He hears our voice and we hear His. There we pour out our heart before Him and talk to Him as a man would talk to His friend. There we wait and look and listen. No one, not husband, wife, father, or mother, knows the interchange going on in the secret place.
The secret place is not somewhere we visit, we live in the secret place. It is our refuge, our home, our abiding place. Our heart is deposited there, our deepest hopes and desires and fears are all collected there and kept under lock and key. God alone knows us and we are beyond comforted that He knows us better than we know ourselves. The inner recesses of our being are safe with Him. He will do us good and not evil all the days of our life. He is the God of our life and we make our prayer to Him. He gives us songs in the night and keeps us company in the most barren land.
God doesn’t mind when men disappoint us because He can then be our Friend that sticks closer than a brother. He wants us to look away from men and come to depend solely upon Him. He wants to get us so accustomed to His face and smile and hand that what men do or don’t do is of little consequence to us. He wants our eye ever toward Him. When others don’t know where to turn He wants us to be unmoved because He is at our right hand. He wants to greet us in the morning and put us to bed each night. He wants our hand in His through every step of our day. And He wants to do all this without us having to show off our relationship with Him in some pretentious way.
God will not be our ticket to fame and fortune. Our only glory can be that we know and understand Him.
Our secret communion with Him, His secret dealings with us, are so sacred and precious, that those around can only know a fraction of all that is happening in the hidden man of our heart. God wants it that way. The more secret we keep it, the more He rewards us. How He loves when we live only for Him! How He hates to be used! He will not be our ticket to fame and fortune. Our only glory can be that we know and understand Him.
Jesus stated fact when He said, “I know Him” (John 8:55). Many say they know God, but don’t. They know about Him. But if we truly know God, He knows us because we dwell in the secret place with Him. He knows us because we depart from iniquity when no eyes are upon us but His. We are His beloved, not simply because we know He loves us, but because we have set our love upon Him. We are unknown upon this earth, but we are celebrities in heaven.
Live in the secret place of the Most High God. All those who do have no fear of death or judgment. For they know that one day they will simply exchange their secret place on earth for their eternal home above. God is in both places.