"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" Psalm 91 v1
I have read of, 'the secret place', and heard it mentioned a number of times over the last few years and wondered what it meant. I assumed at first that this was a room you went to and locked yourself in to pray for a few hours. It sounded a dull activity, since I rarely prayed for longer than fifteen minutes at a time! However, whenever the secret place was mentioned there was an air of excitement, mystery, specialness as it were.
By the way if anyone has any ideas or questions about, 'the secret place', reply to me and I'll publish them . .
I knew that Daniel and Nehimiah retreated daily to spend long times with God and this preceded the unfolding of an amazing story in their lives. I'm told Yongi Cho spent (and still does spend) hours in prayer everyday and this led to his significnt part in the South Korean revival. In the early part of the last century William J Seymour spent three hours a day in prayer which he then increased to seven, just prior to the Asouza Street revival. Were these times dry or were they intimate, joyous times with God? Are these times only achievable by very unusual individuals, tremendously disciplined, for example? Or is it possible that we can enter into a secret place of intimacy with our Father, just enjoying being with Him and acting out our relationship with Him, just Him and us, unninterupted? These lives were certainly marked by a submission to God, and complete reliance on Him and nothing/nobody else. So what kind of certainty do we want in our lives?
Certainty is the mark of the common sense life - gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means we're uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow brings. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises.
Taken from ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ by Oswald Chambers
How to be certain of God? And how to know we are in His presence and under His protection? In the absence of knowing how to do this and how we can be reassured we are doing this, we will tend to rely solely on ourselves and others only. Thus leaving God out of the picture and us out of a fuller life of God given purpose and security.
And do we have to worry about keeping ourselves in that 'secret place' ?
"Can we keep ourselves there? GOD can keep us there.
He never forgets to keep me,
He never forgets to keep me
My Father has many dear children;
But He never forgets to keep me.
Has He forgotten to keep you? Nay! He cannot forget. God has much in store for you; you are far from being out of His thoughts"
Smith Wigglesworth, 1921 sermon,
http://www.nemontel.net/~word1/secret_place.htm
on Psalm 91 or the Message version of Psalm 91
"Abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Don't change your position, but always have the presence of God, the glory of God. Pay any price to abide under that covering, for the secret of victory is to abide where the Victor abides."
Are we willing to pay any price? Or do the comforts we believe we already have mean too much to us to let go of? These comforts are not rock solid anyway, as we see all around us people losing their jobs, their secuirty, their health . . isn't it better that we cast everything we have on Jesus and trust Him and Him alone? Our Father will not let us down!
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Lets Pray
Thank you Lord that you do keep us under the wings of your protection even when we don't know it and we are not seeking it
Help us to actively seek your presence so as to fully enjoy what you have for us. Even though we may feel uncertain help us to know that you are a God of certainty.
Along the way you have many surprises for us, opportunities to fulfill the potential you destined for us before we were born! Give us the courage, born from your loving parenthood, to grab these with both hands!
In Jesus name!
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