We all love a good secret. There’s something so thrilling about knowing something that other people don’t know.
I lead a small group of young adult women at church and we just finished Beth Moore’s Sacred Secrets study last week. Throughout the study, Beth says, “The Theology of Secrecy is that secrets manifest” (Mark 4:22). Good or bad, secrets are bound to come out. We have to learn what to do with the secrets in our lives.
It’s easy to think of the word secret and only see a negative meaning. Secrets don’t have to be bad! We’ve all been exposed to both good and bad secrets, but Beth points out in the study that “no secret has to stay bad.”
God longs to transform us and make us more like Him, but it happens in the secret place. Change happens when we fix our eyes on him and let him shed light into the dark places in our lives. Satan’s power is significantly less when light has been shed on darkness.
“There isn’t a single secret in our life that God can’t transform.”
I’ve started to learn more about meeting God in the secret place, and it’s literally transforming my life. It has become a joy to meet with God first thing in the morning. When I open up His Word, he is faithful to teach and speak. It’s such a privilege to meet with God. It starts my day off in a position where I’m listening to him as I go about my day. I’m asking him to speak afresh for a new day.
I come before him and just lay it all out there—the good, the bad, and the ugly. He speaks forgiveness over me like a healing balm, and he shows me areas where I need to grow. He’s allowed me to see the depth of the grace that has been extended toward me so that I will more freely offer grace to those in my life. (Psalm 32:1-2, 5; Luke 7:47) Beth says in Sacred Secrets, “People who have been deeply graced by God are the first ones to extend grace.”
I’m often tempted to call a friend and tell her everything God is teaching me, but He’s causing me to make sure I understand it before I try to explain it to someone else. Sometimes, he gives us a truth that we need to cling onto in the secret place—it’s not for everyone else to know right now.
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6
God desires to meet with us in the secret place. He wants to impart wisdom and to make His word come alive. In the secret place, I’m getting to know him in such a new, incredible way. He’s not only worth my time, but he’s worthy of it. I hope that you’ll make time to meet with God in the secret place. He wants to spend time with you, and he makes himself readily available. He delights in you and wants you to walk closely with him (Psalm 139:13-15).
“The best reward of all isn’t the stuff God has for me. The greatest reward is himself.”
For a free sample of Beth Moore’s Sacred Secrets Bible study, click here.
Mary Margaret Collingsworth is an Event Project Coordinator at Lifeway. Read more from Mary Margaret at her blog, Story of My Life, or on Twitter @marymargaretc.