THE SECRET PLACE

"He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]." (Psalm 91:1, AMP)

The word dwell means to exist, lie within, live in or at a specified place. It means to reside, inhabit, abide; to hold, rest, and remain. Furthermore, it means to be fixed in attention or to keep the attention directed, importing a residence of some continuance.

For a long while I could only conceptualize the secret place Psalms 91 talks about. To me, it was a place of stillness, quiet, calm, and hidden. So hidden in fact, that I didn't understand what it meant to be in the secret place.

It was during a season of healing that Jesus showed me my secret place. It is a golden meadow with tall, wild grasses. This place is filled with sunshine all around, permeating from everywhere. It's as if Jesus' presence IS the light, and He was there waiting for me. In this place, I have wonder. I walk and spin with a childlike giddiness, carefree, dancing and flowing around. In this place everything falls off; all my walls crumble. The wild, golden grasses are tall, just above my head. My eyesight to what's around is hidden from view, and I'm hedged in. It's a close, intimate place. I am kept here; it is a shelter to me. There's no distractions, no to do's. Time itself doesn't exist as we humans define it, and there's no expectations. There is no pressures of the days demands or thoughts about impending schedules. In fact, those very things change or seize to exist after being there with Him. There is freedom. It's easy. In this secret place, in this shelter, I am protected.

"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1, NIV)

And something happened when I was there, my heart remembered. I knew this place; I'd been here before. It was a place I lived out of as a small child, a place my heart longed to be, longed to play. It was in this secret place that Jesus showed me that the black, ominous, crouching wolves, the ones that lie in wait in the shadows at the base of the grasses (the one's I had been on guard for almost my entire life), don't matter here. They can't harm me.

"He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence." (Psalm 91:3, AMP)

It was in this place of free flow dancing, where all else dissolved. There was no overthinking, no planning. I was so wrapped in His love that I had no ambition for anything else. I could just be and dance in the splendor with my King.

Encounters like this with the Lord are beautiful, and He can bring us back to them. However, His encounters always have purpose. A little while after this, I longed to be back in this secret place. I grieved being that little girl again, twirling in the sunshine. But, I didn't know how. Everything was so heavy. I began to wrestle with myself and God. I was striving to get there, "Why Lord, why can't I get there? Why does there seem to be a block?".

I was pursuing this place of vision, this place of encounter, just as I had experienced it the first time. But in the wrestling, in the waiting, in the praying, in the fasting, He was faithful. He spoke, and He revealed.

The secret place is not a place to "get to" but it is rather a place He invites us to enter into. It's a place to live out of, to live from. It was more hidden than I had thought, concealed in the everyday, yet more accessible. However, entering into the secret place requires a slowing down and a surrendering, something we must deliberately choose. It is not just an encounter from the Lord, but a place of His continual presence and He's already there waiting for us to be with Him.

How often have I spent time in prayer, said Amen and then proceeded with my day? Time and time again, I speedily jump from one task to the next. Then, when I find myself overwhelmed, stressed and exhausted, I'm frustrated and ask, 'Why?'. Jesus is offering something different here. A place of rest and shelter during it all. He offers His shadow if we choose to dwell in the secret place, continually.

Jesus is the light (John 8:12). If we are therefore in His shadow, we are being covered. This means that He is out in front, fighting for us, defending us in the battles, all the while we are being sheltered from the blows. We can rest in His shadow, unafraid.

"You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day." (Psalm 91:5, AMP)

When we dwell here, and have continual intimacy with Jesus, then we are sheltered from the fear of the evil around us; He keeps us in His shadow of safety and our focus is so on Him that the crouching wolves don't matter. But it's not just the wolves and snares we shouldn't fear. It's also the worldly troubles, fear of the future, and the startling calamity that seems to be all around us in this world.

"You shall not be afraid...of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday." (Psalm 91:5-6, AMP) 

In the safety of the shelter, it's all about Him. It's choosing Him and then not walking away for the day. It's staying, residing and remaining in this place. It's keeping our attention so directed and fixed on Him that all the other stuff doesn't matter. It's being so wrapped in His love that our faith, hope and trust is in Him.

"He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!" (Psalm 91:2, AMP)

It is the confidence of knowing that in His presence is safety.

"For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord." (Psalm 27:5-6, NASB95)

*All quotes are taken from NIV unless otherwise noted.

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