Withdrawing to the Secret Place

Happy Wednesday!

So, last month Hannah Brencher was doing her yearly Gospel Reading Challenge where you read all four gospels in one month. As she was hyping it up and getting people to sign up she said that it would change your relationship with Jesus in the best way possible. You would get to know Him in new and more intimate ways. At the very least, you would learn something new about Jesus Himself through reading the gospels. The idea of doing the Gospel Reading Challenge isn't just to read the four gospels in one month. It's to read them with the intention of knowing Jesus. You read every line and every word written about Him and said by Him wanting to learn more about Him.

I had wanted to do a post on what I learned most about Jesus while doing the challenge, but all October I couldn't figure it out. I mean I had learned a lot and it was an awesome experience and a really cool thing to do. I definitely recommend it. But I couldn't figure out the right thing to write about. Like overall, what did I learn about Jesus that stood out to me. And just in the past week as I've been reading through Mark (again), I realized what stood out to me the most. So many times in all of the gospels Jesus went away to pray. He often times withdrew from the crowds. He sought out a quiet place to pray and be in communion with God. During The Pause Podcast episode I was listening to today they were talking about the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Right before that happened the disciples returned from Jesus sending them out and having them do miracles and witnessing to people. They returned, and the first thing Jesus did was telling them let's withdraw to a quiet place. Let's get some rest and recharge and pray and talk about what you did and what you learned. Sort of a debrief and recuperate sort of thing. And I realized, He does that all the time. He withdraws a lot to rest and recharge. And how does He rest and recharge? He spends time in communion with God. Praying to Him, listening to Him. But not just that, he seeks out the quiet place, the secret place where He can have quiet and intimate time with God alone.

In middle school I had the most amazing history/Bible teacher. I look back on it now and will always be thankful for the things and habits that Mr. Knapp instilled in us. He’ll always be one of my favorite teachers I’ve ever had. He was obsessed with Star Wars. One of my favorite memories was when he brought his super nice, super expensive light sabers to school and taught us Jedi fighting moves. We then got to do a rehearsed battle in the chapel of the school! He showed us Star Wars clips and his whole desk was full of little Star Wars collector addition figurines. But what really stood out to me to this day is the lessons he taught us. He didn’t just teach us about God, he taught us habits that would stick with me for the rest of my life. We had to prayer journal every day of the week and turn it in. I remember one time during chapel one of our assignments was to close our eyes and to just sing and be only with God. He didn’t want us concerned about what the person next to us was doing or to he self conscious when we worshipped if we raised our hands or whatever. He had us do one assignment where he would give us a classmate's name in secret and told us to either do something nice for them, write out an anonymous note or give them an anonymous gift. It was going into the secret place, being humble and doing something kind and loving for someone else without taking the credit for it. I feel like a lot of the assignments he gave us was to teach us about the secret place. Prayer journaling is a space between just you and God. Your words are meant only for Him. Closing your eyes as you worship blocks out all interruptions and other people around you and allows you to worship God in your own space. I'm thankful that those habits were nurtured through my Bible teacher in that way.

I've heard about the secret place a lot. My teacher taught about it without knowing in middle school, and so many Christian influencers and people I follow on social media has brought it up throughout the years. They talk a lot about the sacredness of the secret place. The secret place isn't a specific place that all Christians go to to have communion with God. It can be a specific place to you, or it can be more of an abstract thing. For me, it's more of an abstract thing, though I do consider my mornings prayer journaling and reading the Bible to be my secret place too. The secret place is the space you make for yourself in your day where it is just you and God. The words spoken to Him and the words spoken back to you are between just you and God. That space is sacred and special and shared just between the two of you. Jesus often went off to pray in His own secret place, a space where He and God could have one on one time separate from the hustle and bustle of life. It's that secret place where He could recharge and rest and then continue on His ministry. Right before he was arrested and put on the cross, he went off on his own to pray in solitude. Before he walked off to pray on his own, He urged the disciples to pray and be in the secret place with God.

But the thing that stands out to me the most about that idea of the secret place in this crazy season is the rest and rejuvenation it can bring. It brings you closer to the Father and His will. For lack of a better term, it can center you in His will and keep your eyes focused on Him, which in this crazy election season is very much needed. We need to do everything we can to keep our eyes trained on a kingdom mindset and not a worldly one. I think one of the best ways to do that is to withdraw from the worries and hustle and loudness of this world and seek out God in the secret place. The next few weeks are going to be stressful for everyone no matter what political stance you take. This is as much a reminder to me as it is to you, it's OK to withdraw and rest during this time. Jesus withdrew from the crowds. In our day and age that's kind of the equivalent of withdrawing from social media. It doesn't even have to be an all day thing. Just withdraw from social media, withdraw from your phone, from your busy schedules, from the constant hustling for even just ten minutes into the secret place. Pray, read the Word, listen to a Podcast like The Pause Podcast where you're pretty much getting a 30 minute devotional. Withdrawing to the secret place can bring healing and peace and rest. After praying and being in the Word and just letting yourself sit with God for a little while, you'll come back feeling like you can keep going. You can get through the rest of your day or week or month.

Things are going to ramp up in the next few weeks and this post is just to remind you that Jesus withdrew to pray and be in communion with God. He urged his disciples to do the same, which means He's urging us to do the same as well because He knew it would help our mental and emotional wellbeing as much as it strengthens and helps our spiritual wellbeing. Let's be purposeful in seeking out God in the secret place, that place where it is just you and Him and keep a Kingdom mindset as we step into November.