Do You Have a Secret Garden? (Pt. 1)

Remember playing hide and seek as a child? Did you have a favorite hiding place, some crevice or cave in the rocks or the limbs of a tree perhaps? A tree house or fort? Some place that shut out the world, and you could be alone? When thunderstorms began pounding their drum-rolls and shooting flares across the heavens, did you crawl under the bed or yank the covers over your head?

Now, as a grown-up, an individual too “mature” to go crawling into holes and shinnying up tree trunks...to what and where do you resort when you need a break from the world? Is it the obscure corner of some street cafe with pen and paper for catching, and sketching or drafting, your swirling thoughts? A Lazy Boy in front of the fireplace with a good book and steaming cup of chai? How about the wicker rocker on the back porch to watch the sun dip below the horizon, splashing waves of yellow, pink, and crimson across the skies? Maybe it's a stroll through the forest, hoping the whispers of breeze will sweep the cobwebs and worries from your weary mind.

Recently, I attended a live presentation of “The Secret Garden” with a couple of friends. It tells the story of Mary Lennox, a young girl whose parents died, so she is sent to live in her uncle's huge and lonely mansion. Over time, she discovers a garden, locked away, the door in the wall completely hidden by masses of ivy and vines. It belonged to her aunt, who had also died. In his tremendous grief, her uncle had commanded that it be closed and abandoned. Mary, with the help of a friend, entered the garden and began to restore life to it.

I wonder...do you have a secret garden? If you're a child of God, and claim Jesus Christ as your Savior, He has offered to be our “secret place”. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1 David, the great Psalmist said, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” Psalm 27:5 “Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.” Psalm 143:9 “Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.” Psalm 71:3 You don't have to run anywhere to reach this place. Only your heart must reside in it, for you carry it with you. And I promise, it's more peaceful and beautiful than any place on earth. Jesus is your Hiding Place. “There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still.” - Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place.