Secrets of the Secret Place Chapter 7: How to hide in God

As a child, I would run and hide when I was upset. I had two small closets in my bedroom, and whenever I wanted to cry, be alone, or hide from the world, I would run into one of those closets and shut the door. There, in that dark room with a sliver of light beaming under the door, I would sit there for hours at a time. I would stay in that closet until enough time had passed for me to calm down, and then I would emerge with renewed hope and courage to confront the situation that upset me in the first place.

When I became a Christian years later, I came to realize that I was looking for consolation in the wrong place all along. As we can see in Chapter 7 of SotSP, God offers himself to us as a strong refuge and a place to hide in times of trouble. The secret place is like “the eye of a storm” in which you and I can find renewal and peace in the midst of emotional and circumstantial chaos. For example, the way that David found peace in God in the midst of hiding for his life in the desert illustrates that taking refuge in God is not based on finding a physical location, but in accessing God’s presence. And the best thing about God’s presence is, it is everywhere all of the time! We have access to it whenever we want if we will just turn our inward gaze towards Him instead of our circumstances!

Closing the chapter, Sorge emphasizes another key insight that David’s life provides… the more we hide ourselves to God, the more the enemy will escalate his attempts to keep us from finding refuge in Christ. The difference in the strength of believers is not found in how many trials they face, but in how they respond to hardship even when they are doing the “right” spiritual practices. Psalm 91 is an excellent example of how, if one will “dwell in the secret place of the most high”, they will see thousands of other believers stumble by becoming offended with God, but they will not fall into bitterness with them.
 
I encourage you to practice hiding yourself in God during your average day. Practice talking to God in the grocery store, focus on His presence when you are walking to class, think about Him when you are cooking dinner. In those everyday moments, you will find that you have infinite opportunities to hide your weary soul and hurting heart in God… and He will give you supernatural peace and healing in His perfect timing and ways.

Author | Bailey Meyne