The gospel is so simple and real. God loves us enormously; it’s as though He has decided to leave us love notes everywhere. But how do you find the secret place where God abides?
Whenever you open your heart to see and hear Him, He is there.
It’s wonderful to look back over your life and see those hidden messages strategically placed — especially when you did not notice them earlier.
When I’m Calling You
I have one such love note I’d like to share with you. When I was growing up, my family enjoyed watching Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy movies. Jeanette MacDonald had a beautiful operatic voice and she seemed to be a Christian. When her lovely voice was blended with Nelson Eddy’s rich baritone, the musical match was just heavenly.
One of their movies was “Rose-Marie,” known for the song “Indian Love Call.” Set in Canada, it is a romantic love story between a Canadian Royal Mounted police officer and a professional opera singer. At one point, the couple stands at a breathtaking scenic high point in the Canadian mountains, looking down into the valley. The Mountie teaches a bit of Indian folklore by singing “Indian Love Call,” and the song captures the woman’s heart. They fall deeply in love.
When a conflict threatens to separate the lovers forever, the opera singer (MacDonald) returns to the same mountain peak. In hope that her voice will be able to find him, tearfully she sings “Indian Love Call” into the depths of the valley below. Her love is expressed in every line. As she sings, the sound of her voice echoes through the valley to the mountain on the other side.
The hills echo back each note, each word: “When I’m calling you / Will you answer true? / That means I’m offering my love to you. / To be your own. … When you hear my love call ringing clear, / And I hear your answering echo, so dear. … You belong to me. / I belong to you!”
Merely typing those words brings such warmth and tenderness into my heart because I now can see something in those words that I didn’t see as a child. I hear a voice calling me; it is asking for a response to a song I’ve been taught by the greatest romantic of them all. If you listen, you’ll hear it too. Can you hear Him singing your name over the mountaintops? He is aching to hear your heart’s response to Him. “When I’m calling you … Will you answer true?” He’s calling!
If you learn to listen, and if you are still, you will hear the voice that calls each one of us. And if you follow, you will find the secret place where the One who is love eternal dwells. There alone, in His everlasting arms, will you find strength and peace. There you will be shown the wonders of His love.
The question is, how do we find our way to the secret place where God abides?
Finding the Way to the Secret Place
If you want to find God in your everyday experience and sense His real presence throughout life’s struggles and joys, you must learn about a kind of prayer few of us understand: the prayer of inner quiet.
No matter how busy your lifestyle has been, you can learn how to enter the secret place with God. You can know His real presence with you every day.
Learning to change the lifestyle you’ve been living is going to take time. Be patient with yourself.
At the same time, learn how to be patient in waiting upon God. Although God is always present with you, coming into the secret place with Him is one thing you cannot hurry. You’re not going to get there if you’re a speed-reader or a great administrator who lives by a checklist.
None of the things you have learned how to do to “make things happen” will help you come into this place in spirit.
You will only find your way to the secret place with God if you learn to take the time.
Throughout history great men and women alike have found their way into the secret place where God dwells. They have entered that place by learning the secrets of quiet prayer and how to abandon themselves completely to God. They learned what it means to become His bride, and they were consumed with the love of God as they yielded themselves completely to His presence.
In “Heroines of Faith,” we’ll look at the lives of a few of these amazing women. From them, we can learn much about answering God’s call to the secret place.
I look forward to guiding you on this journey of discovering and learning to live daily in the secret place where God abides!
A Personal Prayer
Father, lead us out of the storms and stresses of life that distract us and keep us from knowing You. More than anything else, we want to know You. We want to open our hearts and our lives wide to You. Guide us by Your precious Holy Spirit to the secret place where You can reveal Yourself in wonder, majesty and holiness in us and through us to a lost world. In Jesus’ name, amen. {eoa}
This article is adapted from A Call to the Secret Place—Chapter 1: “When I’m Calling You” in Heroines of Faith by James and Michal Ann Goll.
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