Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “and not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord (Jeremiah 23:23–24 NKJV).
We all played hide and seek as children, but we sometimes unwittingly carried the principle into our adult spiritual lives. God seeks His own we occasionally forget it is impossible to hide from Him. When someone becomes a child of God, he discovers that there really is a wonderful hiding place – not hiding from God but hiding in God. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust” (Psalm 91:1-2).
In The Bible Knowledge Commentary on Colossians 3:3 (For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God), J. F. Walvoord says that “‘hidden’ implies both concealment and safety; both invisibility and security. He [A Christian] is not yet glorified, but he is secure and safe in Christ. In fact, Christ is his very life.”
The Hiding Place is Corrie ten Boom’s account of life in a concentration camp. The title refers to the physical hiding place where her family hid Jews from the Nazis, as well as Psalm 119:114, You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.
A Made-just-for-you Hiding Place
God has an enormous family, but He treasures time with every child. He made each of us in His secret place: My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth (Psalm 139:15 NIV84). Not even identical twins have identical fingerprints. We are all unique.
We are unique in our creation and in our sins. Although we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), if we trust Christ, our sins were buried with Him. To meet the Father in His secret place, we must come through Christ.
Each believer’s relationship to God is unique. If you are a Christian, as I am, the relationship you have with our Father is different than the one I have with our Father just as I have a special relationship with each one of my sons. Since He made us, He knows our special characteristics and how to draw us to Him into our special place of peace and safety with Him.
Our Father Hears and Sees What is Said and Done in the Secret Place
In His sermon on the mount, Jesus told His followers to do good without regard to man for your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. He tells them to pray to your Father who is in the secret place and when fasting, do not fast so that men will know you are fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place (Matthew 6:3-4, 6, 17-18). God knows where you are and what you are doing. He is pleased to be there with you as you humbly serve Him.
The Protection of the Secret Place
Pliny, Roman Governor in Asia Minor in the early Second Century, was so puzzled about the Christians brought before him for trial that he wrote his famous letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for his advice. This was the kind of thing he found himself up against:
A certain unknown Christian was brought before him, and Pliny, finding little fault in him, proceeded to threaten him. “I will banish thee,” he said.
“Thou canst not,” was the reply, “for all the world is my Father’s house.”
“Then I will slay thee,” said the Governor.
“Thou canst not,” answered the Christian, “for my life is hid with Christ in God.”
“I will take away they possessions,” continued Pliny.
“Thou canst not, for my treasure is in heaven.”
“I will drive thee away from man and thou shalt have no friend left,” was the final threat.
And the calm reply once more was, “Thou canst not, for I have an unseen Friend from Whom thou art not able to separate me.”
What was a poor, harassed Roman Governor, with all the powers of life and death, torture and the stake at his disposal, to do with people like that?
(from Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?. . . One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. For in time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:1-5 NKJV).
The Provision of the Secret Place
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we drink’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:31-32).“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11).y
Our Father will use those in His secret place for His glory
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what a master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:15-16).
I treasure my secret place in the Lord. Do you?
© Stephanie B. Blake
January 2014
One Focus Ministries 