Secret
When you hear the word secret, what comes to mind?
I think of sneaking around without being caught. I think of something hidden I don’t want revealed.
“Be sure your sins will find you out.”
This is a phrase which echoes in my head from time to time. It’s a phrase my mom used to say to my brothers and me when we were kids. My mom was always right. When I did something wrong (something I wanted to keep secret), it would typically be brought into the light one way or the other.
I remember having the strong sense that God was watching me as a kid.
“He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.” These words are part of a popular Christmas song and are attributed to Santa Claus. For me, these words went with God (and still do).
No one can keep a secret from God. He’s all-knowing. This is part of my theology.
God, investigate my life;
get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!
Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you. Psalm 139:1-12 (The Message)
Yesterday, Dallas police helped recover my brother’s bass guitar from a local pawn shop. I don’t know many details yet. If you read yesterday’s post (Violated), you know his guitar and laptop were stolen when burglars broke into my parents house. I’m sure the Dallas police are working to find the thieves and to determine the whereabouts of my brother’s laptop. I don’t know if they’ll find the perpetrators or not. But I know this. The burglars may think they have a secret, but God knows who did it. We’ll see what happens!
What if secrets were good?
As I was thinking about secrets today, I kept coming back to this thought: “I want to be in the secret place.”
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 (NKJV)
I want to be in the secret place of the Most High. This is where there is protection. This is where there is comfort. This is where there is relief from struggles and pains of life.
What’s your secret? Where’s your secret place?