I have always been intrigued by the image that Psalm 91:1 produces. "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I fully understood what that scripture meant (to me).
A friend of mine had described her secret place to me as a room with a comfy chair and a table. One weekend, as I gathered with a group of mighty women of God, the subject for that day was the Secret Place. My mentor told us "If you don't know where your secret place is, just ask the Lord. He will reveal it to you."
Hmm, okay.
During our quiet time with the Lord, I asked Him to show me my Secret Place. I imagined myself walking up to a door. I turned the door knob and opened the door. I was expecting to see something like what my friend had described to me, so you can imagine my shock when all I saw was a blindingly white nothingness! Hmm, okay, I thought to myself. I must've done something wrong. And YES, believe it or not, I closed the imaginary door. Again, I pictured myself walking up to the door, turning the door knob and opened the door.
BLINDINGLY. WHITE. NOTHINGNESS.
Huh? What? So I just stood there looking for a few seconds and then, to the right of my vision, I see a small spot of yellow, growing larger and larger until I realize, it's the sun rising. And as the sun rises and grows brighter, I begin to see the out lines of tree limbs and leaves. When the sun finally breaks over the horizon, I see the humongous tree. It's so big, if I were to try to wrap my arms around it, they would not span but 1/3 of the tree. Limbs stretch out so far with leaves of such a vibrant, rich green.
Underneath this tree, is a plain cement bench, but when you sit on it, it's as soft as my La-Z-Boy! I sit and wait for my Lord. And there He is, sitting right next to me. Being the funny girl that I am, I tell the Lord "I like the bench, but do you think You could get us something with a back to it?" ( LOL! Yes, Jesus can take a joke. He's quite the jokester, too - but I digress.) Then the Lord did something that made me burst into tears in the natural. He grabbed me by my shoulders, turned me away from Him, then pulled me back to rest against His chest and He wrapped His arms around me. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to. He's got my back. I can lean on Him. I am safe in His arms.
Afterward, as I looked back on that experience. I wondered 'Did that really happen or was it just my imagination?' Yes, that REALLY WAS AN ENCOUNTER with Jesus. You see, in my mind, I had pictured a room just like my friend has. Jesus had a different Secret Place for me. Mine is outdoors and, TRUST ME, I am not an outdoor lover.
Where is your Secret Place? If you don't have one, ask the Lord to reveal it to you. He’s waiting to show you what he has for you!
