– Secret Place Insights –
Dear One, for weeks now I have been struggling to get up early enough to have an uninterrupted, totally private time with God. And finally this morning, I managed to get up before most in my world. No texts, emails, phone calls or husband will be beeping or calling me before I get in a lengthy time with Him. I anticipate the solitary, set-apart time to be like none other…that is, none other than those previously spent with Him.
You might be wondering why I haven’t just gotten up earlier? I have a problem, well, actually, two, TWO, temporary, but miserable health issues… shingles and a nearly unusable knee. And of course, it has to be the one and only time in history when our hospitals are not scheduling elective surgeries. I try to tell myself that I am lucky, it could be worse, and then I try to convince myself that I believe that. In time both concerns should become little more than a bad dream. Oh, that I would wake up again this morning, and find that it is…just a bad dream.
As I sit down in my quiet-time chair, I turn my back on pitch-black windows. I feel like closing the shades, for in the night, over the last two weeks, a bear has often stood just on the other side of the dark glass. The thought of a bear peeking in at me makes me uneasy, but I won’t get up to adjust the shades. I have learned, over and over again, that the littlest distraction can lead me straight to another, and steal the time I had set aside for God. I know I am weak, that Satan is devious, and that God is waiting – for that is written in His Word.
So, at one of the two desks in the room, I ready myself in front of my open Bible. Prior to reading, I pray for understanding, retention, and the ability to make use of what I learn. But before I begin 2 Samuel 12, my eyes are drawn to a small, spiral-bound, prayer calendar, one I have been reading for thirty years, one which still reveals fresh insights.
The last reveal came just days ago, on May 3rd. The calendar still reads May 3rd, because I will not flip the page. For I am still grateful for the insight of that morning. Though a simple insight, it comforts me, and I want to soak it in again, and again.
The calendar page includes this quote, and verse:
“The simplicity of prayer,
its child-like elements, form a great obstacle
to true praying. Intellect gets in the way of the heart.
The child spirit only is the spirit of prayer.”
E. M. Bounds
“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me,
and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of
Heaven belongs to such as these.”” Matthew 19:14
In the past, in contemplative moods, I have read the verse and thought, there will be adults in heaven as well as children. Why is the verse worded as it is? And now I understand. All those in heaven have adopted the same trust for God that a loving child has for a loving parent. Trust is the key to faith; a child-like faith is necessary for sustaining an ever growing faith.
Before I rise to leave the now sun-filled room, I still don’t move the calendar forward. For I have some more thinking to do about complete and absolute trust…the kind I had as a child for my Dad, the kind we are to have for “Our Father who Art in Heaven.” Hmm…
“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart
before him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8
Blessings,
Susanne
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