Secret Places

Did you ever have a SECRET PLACE that you liked to go to when you were a kid?  To be honest… I don’t recall having any such places to retreat to as a youngster, but I do, as an older teenager and well into my adult years… and it all began when I started dating my wife-to-be during our senior year in high school.  Let me explain…

From the very beginning, we just enjoyed each other’s company!  As time went on and our lives got busier with school, church, jobs, friends and family events, we actively looked for scenic, private places where we could get away from everyone and everything…, and simply be alone to talk and dream together! 

Now don’t get the wrong idea here… while there may or may not have been a little bit of smooching going on, these times, in what we called our SECRET PLACES, were spent getting to know each other and to discuss our future, while we allowed our imaginations to run free and see our united dreams form into a congruent vision and a life plan.  One of the exciting legacies of these activities is that they continued right up to the time Piper left us for her heavenly reward… and I treasure those memories deeply in my heart today!

And speaking of SECRET PLACES, ever since I wrote last weekend’s New Years blog post where I wrote about the importance of us coming to the end of our words and into the beginning of God’s… where we can hear God’s unspeakable words of wisdom, love and direction for our lives... I’ve come to realize that those special times all occur within God’s SECRET PLACES!

Paul described such an event in 2 Corinthians 12:4 where he wrote of a personal experience and explained,

“How that I was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” (KJV) 

Some of the more modern Bible versions give a deeper understanding into the precise meaning of what he was trying to relate to his readers. The Passion Translation says,

“I was caught up in an ecstatic experience and brought into paradise, where I overheard many wondrous and inexpressible SECRETS that were so sacred that no mortal is permitted to repeat them.” 

While The Remedy New Testament expresses Paul’s thoughts as,

“I know I was taken to paradise where God is. While there, I heard wonderful truths—truths beyond earthly comprehension; truths human beings are currently unable to explain.” 

It would seem that Paul’s experience, as like others that are recorded in our Bibles (and other men and women’s in more modern times that I have read about) all talk about things that were personally seen and/or heard… while in deep prayer, praise and worship or even in dedicated times of study within the Word of God… in which they were later unable to accurately describe or explain in human languages.

In my personal life, I can remember many different times when I have heard leadings, words of wisdom or clear directions given to me from the Lord through that “still small voice”* on the inside of me, when spending personal and private time in the Lord’s presence…of which I could not explain the rhyme or reason to others concerning the validity and/or the full reasoning of what I heard**...   And since the Bible makes it clear, as the Apostle Peter found out when he witnessed the Holy Spirit falling on the Gentiles and declared,

 “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34 - KJV)

…that if God will speak to me as I set time apart in my daily life to spend time alone with Him in His Word or while singing hymns of praise to Him… then He can and will do the same for YOU!

When Piper got to the point in her battle with Alzheimer’s where she could no longer verbally communicate, I wasn’t moved because I knew that all our time spent alone in the SECRET PLACES that we had sought out together over the years, would pay off…

Because even if she couldn’t speak… I could still “hear” or “read” what she was wanting to communicate… because I KNEW HER!  I knew exactly how she thought, the things she enjoyed and the things she definitely would NOT like!  I could read her expressions, her movements, and even the crinkles around her eyes.  All the time that we spent alone together was not for naught, but highly tuned us to be able to respond to each other’s basic and deepest needs and desires!

And you know… the same exact closeness of our relationship can also be experienced between you and God.  All you have to do is to make the commitment to each other and then (as the saying goes: “Come hell or high water”) be and stay consistent in order to make it happen on a regular basis!

Have a great weekend… and if is anything like it is here in northeastern Oklahoma… bundle up and stay warm, while you expect to hear from God… and then share His best with those around you!

 

*See: Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9

** Many times, the only one who I could tell who would understand and/or trust me enough to proceed with the direction was Piper… because of all the time we had spent together getting to know each other in the SECRET PLACES we had enjoyed over the years!