The Noble RenaissanceSample

 The Authentic Secret Place

Right from birth, I told the world I was a Christian. And I was a good little Christian. I never swore, I was steadfast on purity, I was resilient to the tests, I certainly feared the Lord. But when my father died, my entire world fell apart at 23. This was the toughest test my faith had faced, and despite me living by the biblical rules, it was adversity that really tested the workings of my faith. 

It was here that I learned I had no faith. A roster of choices had been built into my system based on nothing but legality. I didn’t have a deep, meaningful, loving relationship with God because I didn’t have or understand the secret place. I loved God, but when I was tested, I became upset, bitter, morose. 

When you look at the great men and women of God, it is only in the secret place, in the private conversations with God, that their true power flourished. In the anguish that Jesus faced in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was strengthened by the angels of God and able to face the most terrifying. It was the secret place where people sought and were given divine wisdom that invited the miraculous to unfold. 

The less I performed for Him, the more I talked with Him. The less I strived for his affections, the more I trusted in the quiet of His presence and the more real my faith became. No matter the storm, if we have the secret place, we are one with Him, and no matter how life-threatening the adversity may be, we are willing and able to envelop ourselves in His wisdom—one secret conversation at a time. 

It was this understanding of private devotion that made my public interactions far more patient, hopefully more kind, certainly less bitter. Just as Christ said in Matthew 6:6 (NKJV), “pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” 

In bringing my pain, my hopes, to Him, I was able to bring peace and joy to others.