It was just about a year into my new life, I had just become born again and was enjoying the fellowship, presence and encounters that a new believer experiences and I was having a wonderful time. However, I had just finished nysc and moved to Lagos (the city of many activities, fun life and distractions). I was preparing to resume a job soon and after a while in the city I started having a very unusual fear and began worrying, “I’m having a good time with Jesus now, but there are people that were in Christ sometime ago but gave up and returned to the world or just became distracted by new experiences, a new phase of life or new environment like I just found myself. And there are people that also became born again many years ago, and 40+ years down the line, they’re still burning very hot for Jesus. LORD, HOW DO I NOT LOSE MY LOVE FOR YOU TO THE DISTRACTIONS OF THIS WORLD? HOW DO I STAY PURE AND ON FIRE, NO MATTER WHAT I FACE OR GOOD THINGS OF LIFE I GET TO ENJOY??!!
This was the question and worry that plagued me for many days, but while in fellowship with the LORD one of those mornings, the Lord revealed to me the secret of finishing strong and continuous burning in Jesus, irrespective of your level or calling in life. And that’s what I’m sharing with you. Psalm 91 verse 1 says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” . This is one of the most popular scriptures among believers, and it’s the revelation God gave me as the secret to staying strong in Him to the end.
So, what is the secret place?
A secret is a hidden and personal thing, that even the closest person to you might not be aware of, but it’s so important and real to you so much that you carry it everywhere with you in your heart. The secret place is the place of personal fellowship and intimacy with God. It’s your personal and intimate love relationship with God where you spend time with Him in prayer, the word and communion. It’s not the church or a specific location of prayer, it’s your heart. The place where you interact and communicate with God. Just imagine when your parents fell in love, they had a ‘secret place’, where they met to spend time together and enjoy the company of each other. And each time they had to leave, the love in their hearts kept them looking forward to the next time they’ll see each other again. This physical secret place might have been known by other some people, it might not have been a lonely place and others walked by were present there, but to your parents in love, it was the best and most personal place to them. That’s how the secret place is, a personal place in your heart where you go to spend time with our Lord and Lover, talking, sharing, laughing, crying, interceding, listening and doing all sorts of wonderful but personal interactions with the Holy Spirit. This secret place is the place you cherish the most with just you and God, and the good thing about it is that it’s not limited to a time, you can carry it with you anywhere you go. This is the beauty of the secret place.
What do we do in and with the secret place?
Our focus scripture helps us realize that we’re not just supposed to visit the secret place from time to time, but we’re supposed to DWELL there. The way you interact with God in your secret place is by dwelling there, not just visiting once in a while. You don’t just remember God when you have exams, when you’re in church or when you’re less busy, you’re supposed to visit and remain in your secret place of prayer and the word daily and even as your move around doing all other activities. Many people lose their sensitivity to God and become entangled in one sin or the other because they don’t dwell in the secret place, they visit from time to time and dwell on social media and in interactions with their friends instead. In the secret place is where you talk to God about anything and everything, because the Holy won’t just listen to you, He’ll comfort you, He’ll teach you, guide you and He’ll even help you with whatever thing you need. There’s no better place for a believer than his/her secret place.
How do I dwell in the secret place?
To Dwell means to abide. Psalm 119:11 says, “thy word have I HID in my heart that I might not sin against you. Jesus asks us to abide in Him, and He in us, and we also see from scripture that God keeps in perfect peace those whose hearts are stayed on in. To dwell in the secret place is simple, it just means you intentionally stay in communication with God 24/7 in your heart. Both when you settle down to pray or meditate on scripture for the day, and when you go about your daily activities. To dwell, you just need to keep the consciousness of God in your heart daily, staying in communication by praying at every opportunity, continuously talking to the Holy Spirit and also ensuring everything you’re doing is right with the word of God. You can start by fixing a convenient time you’ll meet with God every day, to spend time in prayer and the word, even if you can just start with 30 minutes, and to ensure that NOTHING takes that time away, even if you miss it sometimes, ensure you create another time that day to spend time with Him. Then when you’re done and you want to continue your day, always remember to carry what you talked to Him or read in your Bible in your heart, constantly asking the Holy Spirit for more clarity and direction as you go about your normal day. Dwelling requires not separating your spiritual life from other areas of life like your friendships or academics or work, but running everything by the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to guide you.
Benefits of Dwelling in the secret place
God doesn’t just call us to dwell in the secret place. Because, in order to dwell in the secret place you’ll have to sacrifice a lot of things that seem more interesting and beneficial. It takes a heart that sees God as the greatest treasure to have to choose to dwell in the secret place. It’ll cost you time, comfort, sleep and food sometimes and many other things just to dwell there. However, the benefit outweighs the investment because all the things others are looking for and sacrificing their secret place for, He will give it to you in a platter of gold. Verses 2-16 open us to the wondrous world of good things available to us like: God’s tangible presence, His protection from all sorts of evil, angelic ministration for our needs, answer to all our prayers, victory over every power of the enemy, honor, long life and all wonderful things the world is running around for. The benefits of dwelling in the secret place are things the world is chasing and neglecting God, but they never find it. All it requires is for you to love God and choose to fellowship with Him daily. When you learn to dwell in the secret place daily, all worries become prayer discussions and thanksgiving with God, because you’re constantly in connection with Him and He is very much alive in you.
The Conclusion
The disciples enjoyed fellowship with God the most because He was with them physically. However, despite His physical presence, they almost suffered shipwreck because Jesus was sleeping in their both rather than keeping connected to Him by communication. Likewise as a believer, Jesus by His Spirit dwells in your heart, but until you learn you build a constant flowing communication with Him daily both in personal time with Him and as you go about your day, Jesus will keep sleeping in your both and you’ll keep struggling without reason. Furthermore, Jesus told the disciples of John, that when He is no more physically available, people will need to go the extra mile to seek His face by fasting. Is Jesus sleeping in your boat? How hungry are you for fellowship with Him and what are you willing to let go of that you know is a distraction, just to have His presence with you?
In conclusion, this was the secret God gave me and I was excited to realize staying strong in God wasn’t a matter of having to do many things or obeying many laws, it just had to do with me ensuring I stay in constant fellowship with Him every day and everywhere. So I made this my primary purpose and became determined never to forsake my secret place no matter what. In case you’re also wondering how to stay strong in God, or you’ve started realizing you’re pulling back from God and you don’t know what to do, all you need to do is to stay in constant fellowship with God in prayer, the word and obedience to the leading of the Spirit. Even if you’ve missed it before or anything has gone wrong, God wants you back, He’s the one that will give you strength to prevail against every distraction of life. He doesn’t expect you to be perfect and Holy by yourself, He Himself is the one that works in you to will and do of His good pleasure, it’s not only a matter of your trying but His grace at work in you, and that grace is gotten and refreshed daily as you dwell in the secret place (As long as you stay connected to Him, you can never be lost, you’ll stay strong to the end.
Do you have struggles, questions or more contributions on staying strong in God, leave your feedback in the comment section and remember to share with a friend. Looking forward to hearing from you
Your brother in Christ,
The Sower