The Secret Place

A concept that used to be foreign to me is that God wants an intimate relationship with us. I heard spiritual leaders talk about this growing up, but it never sunk in because I didn’t have a paradigm of what that looked like. I would hear them use “friend” a lot, but I didn’t associate friendship with that level of intimacy then. Don’t get me wrong - I had best friends, but my privacy was an iron-clad door. However, a year and a half ago God began showing me the secret place.

Everyone has a secret place with the Lord, even if you haven’t found yours yet. This is where you have the highest level of intimacy with Him. You know when you’re so close to someone that you can have your alone time even when they’re with you? That’s what God wants in its purest, most sacred form. He wants to be your person. The one that you automatically turn to, not out of obligation, but because He’s your best friend, your mentor, your accountability, your Papa. In the secret place, I hear God’s laughter when I joke with Him. I know Jesus comforts me when I share my shortcomings and fears with Him because I feel His arm around my shoulders, His hand on mine, or His chest as a place to cry on. It’s as tangible as if a human being were doing those things rather than a heavenly one.

He wants you when your heart is so heavy you can hardly put your feelings into words or when you’re so irritable that everything frustrates you.

In the secret place, you don’t have to worry about eloquence or even politeness. He wants you when your heart is so heavy you can hardly put your feelings into words or when you’re so irritable that everything frustrates you. He wants your most raw, authentic self so He can show you His authentic self. It’s such a simple concept: put into a relationship what you want out of it. Yet when we apply this to our relationship with God we think we have to put a velvet robe on it and read a thesaurus before we begin praying.

He wants to have the kind of relationship where your me-time, whatever that looks like, is an open invitation for Him to be with you. He is jealous for your time, for you. He wants you in a way that no one else can have you. In all of His perfection, in all of His magnificence, He created every little thing about you. He knows how many freckles you have, the exact pattern of your irises, the number of hairs on your head. He also knows the things that you’re overly sensitive about and the things that make you laugh - He created your laugh. Think of God like this: what’s the point of creating an entire universe filled with your own living, breathing, free-willing masterpieces if you can only look at them from afar?

He laughs, and He sings.

He dances, and God wants to dance with you.