One-a-Day...for the Heart: Secret Place
Today I am reminded of this One-a-Day, as my family relived a similar testing of our faith, finding God and His faithfulness, once again, in His secret place...
My sisters and I had a secret place. It was under the basement steps where we had our Huckleberry Hound Club. The club was exclusive—I was president; my sister Leah was vice president, and my other sister Nancy, was our janitor (really). No one knew about our meetings or our comings and goings there. We had Huckleberry Hound badges, membership cards, and official Huckleberry Hound Club paperwork from the cereal box tops we’d saved and mailed in. The only club activities I remember were taking roll calls, cleaning the spider webs from under the steps, and planning our next meeting. It was not a real active organization, but it was ours, and no one else could be in our secret place.
God has a secret place, too. I visit it often. I’m there in times of trouble, fear, uncertainty, heartbreak, or confusion. I’m there when my soul is troubled or lonely, or the flip side is when I’m overcome with joy or peace or when I’ve been healed or encouraged.
For instance, a few years ago, we experienced a period of no rainfall. Something quite amazing occurred during that time, and I was overjoyed to the point of giggling in thankfulness to the Lord.
It had been an exceptionally arid summer and fall, and our well went dry for the second time in two months. There was no water for toilets, showers, washing dishes, or clothes. Life drastically changed very quickly! What to do??
It’s good to key off of Jesus and learn how He tackled the problems of life. When a violent storm arose at sea, He spoke to the wind and waves, telling them, Peace, be still! And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm, Mark 4:39 records. Another version says, Quiet! Be still! and another says Silence! Be still! The Greek meaning is a very strong command, as if to say, Shut up! Be still! Jesus was talking to the elements—the wind and the waves—not people.
So…I spoke to the clouds. I looked up at them and said, “Clouds! In the name of Jesus, I command you to yield RAIN—a good, long, steady, soaking rain!” The weather forecasters had predicted only three hours of rain the day my well went dry, but I asked the Lord to make the clouds defy the forecast and produce a long period of rain.
Psalm 103:20 says, Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out His plans, listening for each of His commands. I asked the Lord to send angels to carry out His plans of bringing the rain my friends and I were praying for. The picture I had in my mind was that of angels wringing out the clouds like a soaked dishrag. The rains began, and my friend texted me of the change in the forecast: 90-100% chance of rain for hours and hours and hours, spanning over a couple of days! As the water table rose, running water was restored to my home, and I giggled in delight as I thanked the Lord! Our family rejoiced at His faithfulness.
UPDATE: This One-a-Day was written a while ago. Fast forward to the present time, November 2022. Again we ran out of water last week. The serviceman for our well assured me there was nothing wrong with the pump or equipment. He said we were very low on water and added that many people were in the same situation. He seemed to agree that praying for a steady, soaking rain would be a good idea.
That was Monday. I checked the forecast, and to our disappointment, there was only a 49% chance of rain on Friday, lasting just three hours. We asked the Lord to send a steady, prolonged, soaking rain instead of a brief three-hour shower. Today, Friday, November 11, I woke up to the beautiful sound of RAIN!! “Not just three hours, Lord! We’ve asked You for steady, soaking rain,” I reminded Him.
The rain stopped at some point in the morning. “Lord? Ummmmmm…where’s the rest of it?” I thought, hoping He would overlook my faltering faith. About that time, my sister texted that rain had poured all night long at her place. It just HAD to come our way!
And it did. The rain began—a steady, prolonged, soaking rain that continues as I write this update almost ten hours later. Praise God for His faithfulness! I talked to Him in the quietness of my secret place of prayer today. Tonight my family spoke openly of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord in answering our prayers for rain! As we kept going to the windows, watching the rain throughout the afternoon and evening, we were so thankful for God’s power to change weather patterns and forecasts. He did it again for us!
He’s a loving, caring God, so aware of our needs. Job 37:6-7 (NLT) says, He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. Then everyone stops working so they can watch His power. That’s precisely what happened at my place today.
The secret place of prayer is unlike any other place. We’re safe there. Loved. Protected. Free. Comforted. We can tell the Lord anything there! He encourages us to speak in childlike faith and say things like, “Clouds, in the name of Jesus, yield RAIN!” or “Lord? Ummmmmm…where’s the rest of it?”
Go there today--don’t delay, for 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).
Miracles can happen because of our time in the secret place—there’s no limit to what the Father will do when we spend time with Him there. And believe me, the perks are far better (and much more powerful) than those in the secret place of the Huckleberry Hound Club!
© 2022, Chris Werre