The Secret of Finishing

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ometimes our secret place is interrupted by forces beyond our control. Emergencies happen. And sometimes the day’s agenda demands we depart in order to fulfill a com-

mitment in our calendar—like going to work.

Occasionally we feel like, “I’m not finished yet! Lord, I want more time with You! I am definitely going to come back to this same place with You before this day is over. I need to pick up where we’re leaving off and finish my business with You.”

The Lord understands when the demands of life pull us away from the secret place. He is not condemning or displeased. In fact, He loves to behold the sincerity of your heart when you honestly wish you could take longer in His presence.

Having made that disclaimer, I want to suggest there is an element to the secret place some haven’t found yet. It’s the mat- ter of “finishing” your time with God before moving on to the affairs of the day.

Each visit to the secret place is an event in itself. Many have understood the need to “break through”—to keep pressing in until you cross a threshold in your own spirit, until you find freedom in your heart and a connectedness in your spirit. We’ve known there is a “warm-up” time, and then there is a time of intimacy

Secrets of the Secret Place

and interaction. However, we haven’t always understood that the secret place is not always complete without the proper finish and full completion of what God intends. It’s easy to leave before God’s done with you.

Here’s an interesting verse about Jesus’ prayer life: “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1). There was obviously a point of completion and finish to Jesus’ time of prayer because it says, “when He ceased.” In a technical sense, we know that Jesus prayed without ceasing; but when it came to His secret place, there came a point of time when He ceased. There came the time of completion. In fact, the New American Standard Bible renders it, “after He had finished.”

One of the secrets of the secret place is staying with it until you’re finished. The way you know you’re finished can feel differ- ently every day, but I would suggest that the decision of when the time is finished is not primarily yours but God’s. Let God decide when it’s over. Give Him the honor of dismissing you.

Solomon gave us these wise words, “Do not be hasty to go from his [the king’s] presence” (Ecclesiastes 8:3). If it’s true of earthly kings, then it’s even more relevant for those who draw near to the presence of the King of kings. Having come into His presence boldly through the blood of Christ, let us not be hasty to leave. Let us stop, wait on Him, minister to Him, and continue in our service before the King until His release comes.

Those who linger in His presence uncover the greatest joys of His presence. The greater dimensions of intimacy do not come quickly. We call on Him, and then He gently begins to draw us into the embrace of unspeakable love.

A “hit-and-run” approach will never do. Go ahead and “test drive” this secret. Don’t quit till you’re finished. Give yourself to the King until He sends you forth into His harvest. The intimacy of His chambers will ignite your soul, and you will carry His fragrance to a lost world who desperately longs for what you’ve found.

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The Secret of the Morning

ON’T DO IT!

What I mean is, don’t skip this chapter. It’s tempting to look at the title of this chapter and think, “I’m not even

going to go there. I’m not a morning person, and I don’t want to read about how the morning is the optimum time for the secret place. I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t work for me. I’m a night person, and that’s my best time.”

That’s great! If night is your best time, give God your best! I don’t believe everyone’s secret life with God is identical. We are highly unique, and the Lord loves the particular spice that comes from the fragrance of your own individuality. So give Him the portion of your day that works best for your personality.

For most of us, the morning represents “our best.” It’s the time when, for the majority, our minds are clearest and most alert. It can also be the most “valuable” time in the sense that many demands want to grab our attention in the morning. Now, I recognize many of my readers work midnight shifts or keep a variety of waking hours. Therefore, as I refer to “the morning” in the remainder of this chapter, please understand that I am really referring to the “best” and “most valuable” time of your day.

Secrets of the Secret Place

Some of my friends are night people, but even they have told me that morning is their best time for the secret place. One friend said to me, “I am not a morning person, but early morning is the time that produces the greatest rewards for me.”

Another friend said, “I am not a morning person,” but then she added, “I noticed that when I have my devotions in the morning His word is more fresh to me and I am more obedient to His word. So I have started to discipline myself to have my quiet time with God in the morning. I notice that I am more equipped to handle what gets thrown at me in the course of the day.” However, she also added that she uses the night time for Bible reading.

I’ve heard from more than one person that it is helpful to them to have a set time and set place for meeting with God. By establishing consistency in both the time and place, they are able to go deeper in their relationship with Christ.

It is supposed by some that when God came to commune with Adam and Eve “in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8), it was a reference to the morning. Is the morning God’s first choice? It’s difficult to be dogmatic. Isaac used the quiet of the evening to meditate with his God (Genesis 24:63). Daniel prayed morning, evening, and mid-day. Both David and our Lord Jesus, however, modelled an early morning secret life with God.

David wrote, “Early will I seek You” (Psalm 63:1). The word “early” means at least three things to me:

• I will seek Him early in life, while I am young;

• I will seek Him early on when problems first surface instead of coming to Him after exhausting all my other options;

• And I will seek Him early in the day.

David also described his secret place with these words: “O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn” (Psalm 108:1-2). David was resolute—“steadfast” in his heart—about the priority of the secret place. He had a constancy of fervency; his

The Secret of the Morning

zeal for seeking God was unabated and consistently hot. Even as God’s love toward David was steadfast, David’s love for God was steadfast. He performed his “daily vows” (Psalm 61:8) by stead- fastly committing himself to seeking God in the early morning hours, the time when he would “awaken the dawn.”

Jesus also modeled a pattern of rising early to pray. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). The context of that statement is fascinating. It’s referring to Sunday morning; the day before had been an extremely busy Sabbath. He had taught in the synagogue, healed Peter’s mother- in-law, visited with the group over dinner, and then after 6:00

p.m. on Saturday evening (at the close of the Sabbath) Jesus was suddenly bombarded with a multitude of people who were swarming Him for a healing touch. Once the Sabbath expired, Jesus was instantly mobbed. He healed their sick and ministered to them, and we’re not told how far into the night the meeting went. All we know is that the next morning, rising “a long while before daylight,” Jesus took off for the secret place. Could it be that the intensity of the previous evening’s ministry gave Him an even greater urgency to be with His Father in the morning? One thing seems clear: It wasn’t an especially long night.

Even when His body craved more sleep, Jesus knew His true source of revitalization would not be on His back but on His face. Jesus’ commitment to the secret place was profoundly prophesied by David in Psalm 110:3, “In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.” The secret place was Jesus’ “womb of the morning.” It was the place where life incubated, where creativity germinated, where inspiration gestated, where power percolated. When Jesus burst forth from this womb of happy holiness, He was revitalized and energized in “the dew of Your youth.” He emerged from the secret place feeling young all over again and ready to fulfill the Father’s mandate.

Thus, Psalm 110:3 describes the three-fold nature of Jesus’ secret place relationship with His Father:

Secrets of the Secret Place

• Intimacy:

“In the beauties of holiness” indicates proximity of pres- ence.

• Impregnation:

“From the womb of the morning” points to procreative power that produces life.

• Invigoration:

“You have the dew of Your youth” speaks of revitalization and renewal of strength.

Jesus experienced this dynamism in His secret life with God, and you can, too! Not sure whether to do morning or evening? Why not both? Give Him the firstfruits and and the last fruits of your day. He deserves our best!

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Дата добавления: 2015-10-23