I wish everyone could experience my kids whispering in their ear. It is the absolute best and worst thing at the same time. They cup their hand around their little face and put their mouth on top of your ear and just straight up BREATHE IN IT. They think they’re saying words. They absolutely are not. You can’t hardly hear them, and all it does is tickle like crazy. They make you listen to their nonexistent words forty seven times until you finally say, “I can’t even hear you, just tell me!”

They don’t really understand the concept of what’s supposed to be a secret and what’s not. They just like whispering, honestly. But I’ve discovered that it’s a gift, really. For them to have something so special that they want your ears to be the only ones to hear it.

We hear about this so much when it comes to Jesus. The secret place. The place where it’s just you and God. It was a mystery to me for years. I felt like it was this place that only really spiritual people could figure out. I didn’t know where or what it was supposed to look like, and maybe I wasn’t even invited.

There are lots of places in the Bible where this is mentioned, but I think this is the most clear picture:

“But when you pray, go into your most private room, close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.” [Matthew 6:6]

There are so many things to pull apart as to why this secret place matters. It keeps us humble, right? It keeps our focus on God instead of what other people are doing. But it’s so, so much more.

The secret place is where God promises to see us and hear us. But, wait. Don’t miss it. The secret place is where we were made.

“You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place, carefully, skillfully shaping me from nothing to something. You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d even seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book.” [Psalm 139:15-16]

So let’s clear this up a little. The secret place isn’t the only place God hears or speaks or sees. That would contradict everything everything He promises. But what it does do? But it is often where we see Him the most clearly, without any other distractions. It’s not just where we’re going, it’s who we are.

If it’s in secret we were made, it’s in secret that we are reminded who we are. 

It’s around others that we’re tempted to let them remake us. We want to let the praise and approval of other people define and fulfill us, but it can’t sustain us. It’s in the secret place that we’re reminded that we’re both nothing and something. We are nothing without God, but with Him, we have everything.

But can’t God meet us at church? Why does God need us to get away with Him? It’s where we first met. 

Oh man, slow down and read it again if it doesn’t hit you. The secret place is where we get to be reminded again of our first love. Of the One who chose us and formed us. It’s God’s gift to us to be pulled back in to the place we were first loved.

It’s no wonder satan just wants to keep us busy. If he can keep our schedules full enough, we’ll have time to be around God and with other people, but bypass the most beautiful and sentimental place that our Creator us drawing us to. Just Him and me.

When’s the last time you’ve been alone with Jesus? Yes, He can speak to you at church. Yes, He sees you and hears you at Bible study.

But when it’s just Him and me?

I don’t need anyone else’s approval. I am already chosen.

I don’t need to work hard to be worth it. I am already deemed worthy.

I can’t hold onto bitterness or hurt. I am freely forgiven. 

I can’t be overwhelmed by my schedule. My days have already been planned. 

It’s so much less about finding a deeper spiritual level. It’s returning back to our first Love. It’s taking charge of the chaos of our life, telling it that it doesn’t control us. It’s putting aside the voices of everyone else and returning to our beginning with the One who loves us and chose us.

Yes. He wants you. You. Just you.

If you’ve been putting it off or just haven’t been sure how. If you were looking for some sort of sign from God that He actually wants to be with you, here it is. Whether you feel nothing or everything, just get with Jesus. Let Him speak into you, encourage you, empower you, and just love you without any strings attached. I guarantee you, He’s waiting.

“Come near to God and He will come near to you.”

[James 4:8]