When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:6.

The above verse was in My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, and I loved this that he wrote: “Jesus says to “shut your door.” Having a secret stillness before God means deliberately shutting the door on our emotions and remembering Him. God is in secret, and He sees us from “the secret place” – He does not see us as other people do, or as we see ourselves. When we truly live in “the secret place,” it becomes impossible for us to doubt God. We become more sure of Him than of anyone or anything else. Enter into “the secret place,” and you will find that God was right in the middle of your everyday circumstances all the time….if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God.”

And the best part of going to Creator God – Father…Son…Spirit, is that drawing near to Him brings peace to our soul so in need of His love. Reading our chapter, Ecclesiastes 7, is to me what Solomon understood of God and wisdom without that closeness with God his father, David, experienced. Wise sayings maybe? A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. v. 1. He mentions again what is meaningless and as you read his words maybe they resonate with you. Think of the myriad of experiences and expectations we all have. Solomon thought about things from his perspective just as we all do. All this I tested by wisdom and I said, “I am determined to be wise” – but this was beyond me. Whatever exists is far off and most profound – who can discover it? So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly. v. 23-25. And then he comes to verses that make me cringe…I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains…Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things – while I was still searching but not finding – I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all…v. 26-28. Wow. And this final verse…This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many things. v. 29. That sounds like Solomon. Going in search of many things.

Have you ever thought something was true and later found out it was wrong? And were you confused and lost for a time? I have experienced that several times in my life. Each instance left me unsure of my own judgment. I began to not trust myself or others. My unexpected life was realized when I cried out to God for understanding and help. Where before I would have taken the first Scripture cited as a command to literally go into a room and shut the door, now I know to meet God in silence or in a crowd, in confusion or in joy, in despair or in hope. The secret place is where my soul speaks to Holy Spirit and He is with me. We have met before. When I was a child, when I was a teenager, when I was a young mother and thankfully, whenever I have needed understanding for things too big for me. And every time I look with eyes open to the beauty God has surrounded us in and give thanks, we draw closer. An unexpected life filled with grace and hope and joy and peace in Him. He has walked with me my whole life. He longs to walk with you. Embrace unexpected. Meet with God and begin to live fully with Him.