This morning I experienced a small taste of the meaning of the Psalm 91:1, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High abides under the shadow of the Almighty." With the aid of noise canceling headphones, I listened to a playlist of beautiful worship music, and there I was overcome with the presence of God. From the first sounds of "Lord, You're Beautiful," I was compelled to get alone and fall to my knees. I found myself weeping from somewhere deep within my soul. Eventually I rested on my bed and lifted my arms up to the One whose love I was seeking.
I had the mental picture of our little grandchild as he sees me approach him and he reaches up to me with happy expectation. What a precious picture of how God yearns for us to want Him to "pick us up" to where He is! I thought of another verse that I have struggled to understand, Ephesians 2:6, "For He raised us from the dead along with Christ, and are seated with Him in the heavenly realms-- all because we are one with Christ Jesus." For the first time, I think I have a glimpse of what that means. I felt that God had indeed reached down and picked me up into His presence. For an hour and a half I didn't think about earthly responsibilities, or my puny needs; I was simply enraptured with His presence. I also began to understand what the scripture means that says our God is a jealous God. It doesn't mean that Almighty God is some egotist who has to be admired; far from it! It just that when I heard the first words of worship, I felt the Holy Spirit drawing me aside where we could be alone, just as we as human beings desire sometimes to be alone with the ones we love the most so we can we experience intimacy with them.
Feeling the calmness that settled over my soul, it came to me how important it is for us to teach our children to learn the benefits of this practice. They need to experience at a young age the peace that comes when they develop the habit of seeking a secret place with the Father. The practice of escaping from the noise and sensory stimuli that bombards them constantly will cause their mental and physical attributes to develop as well as their spiritual. What a wonderful concept to think of teaching our children to draw aside for a period of time to get to know the God of the Universe. And He made us a promise. He said if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us! He also said that if we seek Him, we will find Him. It's not a game; it's a promise beyond our comprehension!
