The Secret Place

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Psalm 91:1, NKJV

Do you know where the secret place is? It's not necessarily a place of position but of attitude. It doesn't have physical coordinates on the global positioning system, but rather. The secret place is a state of spiritual being, that place of perfect communion with God. It is wherever you make it, because you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, you are the dwelling place of God, and you can take the secret place with you wherever you go.

But long before the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us, men and women of God had to go find a place to meet with the Lord. For Adam it was within Eden in the cool of the day. For his sons, and perhaps the many generations preceding the flood, it was between the wings of the cherubim at the entrance to the Garden. For Abraham it was wherever he built an altar of worship to the Lord. For Jacob it was Bethel. For Moses and Elijah it was Sinai, that cleft in the rock where they both met with God. Moses saw Him, Elijah heard Him, both experienced Him there in a mighty and powerful way. For David it was a goatskin tent pitched on top of Mount Moriah, that transitional covering between Tabernacle and Temple that housed the Ark and the presence of God. But wherever they found God, there they communed with Him, there they had fellowship with Him.

I love the words of the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon, the voice of the beloved to his loving bride that called, "Arise, my beloved, and come away! In the secret, in the quiet place, in the cleft of the rock, come away with me to that place and let me see you. Let me hear your voice. Let me touch you in a personal and intimate way." It is the voice of our beloved calling to us, "Let me know you from the inside out, and know me too."

That is the secret place. We find it in worship, and in prayer. We find it when we seek Him with all of our heart. We find it when we center ourselves upon and within the presence of the Most High God, letting His Spirit fill us up and overflow in our lives. We find it as we lose ourselves in Him.

Some people are afraid of that kind of intimacy, perhaps of any intimacy at all. I know from past experience that there have been times I didn't really want to be in that kind of close contact with God. It was too painful, because of the things that I knew God would bring to the surface in my life to deal with. It was too terrifying, because of the things I knew were in my life, the things I was ashamed of. It was too enlightening, showing me things that I didn't really want to know. And yet that is where He calls us. He beckons us into His arms, into His loving embrace. And He says, "I know who you are, I know where you are and what you've done. I know your frailties, your weaknesses, your failings. I know your fears and your dreams. Come unto Me and let me help you." God doesn't want us close enough to destroy; He wants us close enough to bless!

And when the Lord is our refuge, our fortress, the One in whom we put our trust; when God is our dwelling place, He says:

·         I will deliver you from every trap and danger and peril

·         I will cover you and shield you, before and behind

·         I will encourage you, and you will have no fear

·         I will protect you from destruction

·         I will hold you up, though others fall all around you

·         I will keep you from all evil

·         I will give the angels charge over you, and they will guard your steps

·         I will give you power over the serpent and the lion--power over the devil

·         I will set you upon high

·         I will answer your prayers

·         I will be with you in trouble

·         I will deliver you

·         I will honor you

·         I will satisfy you

·         I will show you My salvation in every possible way!

I want to live my life in the secret place, in the shadow of God!