The secret place is a dangerous place to be in, whether it’s a good secret place or a bad secret place. And yes, both do exist.

We see the secret place in movies, TV shows, and books. Movies like Mean Girls and TV shows like Pretty Little Liars, show us the bad and corrupt secret places people can find themselves in. There are burn books, lies, gossip, and shame.

On the other hand, there is a secret place, a place of intimacy, that our culture and our society don’t know about and it’s just as dangerous as the corrupted secret places we do see and know about. It’s not dangerous because it hurts us, it’s dangerous because it transforms us.

The Bible speaks of the secret place many times. In Exodus, God hides Moses in a secret place so that he could see God’s glory. (Exodus 33:22). In the Psalms, we can read about being hidden or abiding in the secret place (Psalm 32:7, Psalm 27:5, Psalm 91:1). In Matthew, Jesus instructs us to find a secret place to pray in (Matthew 6:6).

I can’t imagine Moses was not terrified and excited, all at once, to see God’s glory. Moses saw God, and after that he was never same. The Bible says that after leaving the secret place, his face shone. Not only that, but when people saw Moses, they were afraid of his light.

Will we go to God’s secret place, where we can be honest, transparent, and be changed? Being changed in the secret place may result in people distancing themselves from us, like it happened to Moses. It can be scary and dangerous to let go of the place where people accept us and include us, but, the result of being in God’s secret place outweighs any reward we may receive from people.

Jesus’ instruction to go into a secret place to pray, shows us that God is interested in meeting with us and having a real connection with us. He’s not a superficial or anonymous God.

In the book “The Secret Place” by Tana French, there is a noticeboard where the girls of a school can pin up secrets anonymously to let off steam. It’s kind of similar to the burn book in the movie Mean Girls. The purpose of this secret place isn’t to be known, it’s to be unseen, which makes sense, by definition, since secret means to hide or conceal. There are some areas in our lives that we want to keep unseen. They may be too painful to reveal or perhaps, our bitterness and pride, keep us hidden in the negative secret place.

However, God’s secret place is an oasis to all who find it and seek it. It’s a place where we go to know Him, be known by Him, and find ourselves in Him. It’s a place we go to, where we can reveal our deepest needs and wants, our hurts, and let go of our bitterness and pride.

Hiding in the negative and dark secret places we are used to, won’t make a difference in people’s lives and it surely won’t exalt and magnify God. Going to God’s secret place allows us to be changed so that in turn, He can be glorified, and our story can lead others to Him.

So, will you decide today to leave the dark and go into the light of God’s secret place? I pray that you will, because if you do, you will find healing, freedom, and purpose.

To learn more about God’s secret place, you can read Bob Sorge’s Secrets of the Secret Place.