The Secret No One Knows

¹¹ Even hell holds no secrets from God—do you think he can't read human hearts?

(Proverbs 15:11)

As a little girl, nothing thrilled me more than to know a secret.  I was delighted to have that tidbit of information to hold onto because it somehow gave me a sense of "power" over someone else (I knew something they did not).  Today, secrets are sometimes unpleasant things to know - like that someone is struggling inwardly and they don't want others to know.  The secrets are still expected to be kept, but the things I must keep are much more difficult to know.

For some, a secret is something that only the "privileged" have any access into knowing.  For others, a secret is more of a "gossip" channel.  Still for others, it is a means of controlling individuals through "protected information".  Regardless of the "reason" for the secret held, it can be both a burden, and a blessing for some.  I had a friend share a secret this week that was indeed a blessing in her life.  She will announce that secret soon, but until that time, we revel in the blessing together!

Somethings are kept concealed (secret) because we don't want others to know.  The passage today makes it quite clear that there are no secrets from God.  As a matter of fact, even Satan's domain (his "hood") doesn't even hold secrets from God.  The fact is that God has a good hold on the human heart and he knows what we try to keep bottled up there.  Try as we might, we cannot hide our true struggles, the not-so-holy intentions, and the frequent compromises.

Over the years, there is one thing I have done with the "secret" stuff of my heart - it is to ask God to expose it.  Sometimes we don't even know what all is hidden in the recesses of our minds, our emotions, and our desires.  We almost get "caught off guard" by the stuff that surfaces on occasion - thinking we had "dealt" with that stuff a long time ago.  When it surfaces, we are surprised by it and often struggle afresh with the challenge that having this "secret" presents.

God has more knowledge about each one of us than we'd like to imagine he does.  He knows each compromise - big or little.  He understands the motives behind each action - good or bad.  He holds the keys to breaking through addictions, bad habits, secretly held compromises - knowing exactly what needs focus in order to live beyond each of them.

Trying to hold "secrets" from God is pretty foolish!  Tucking things away in the recesses of our minds - refusing to deal with the unpleasant side of life's everyday struggles - just doesn't cut it.  God has already seen it!  He already knows it exists.  There is nothing we can hide - no place we can "tuck it away" unnoticed.  If we are serving the Lord, all is "fair game" for his touch!

The best thing we can do with the secrets of our heart is to give them to the one who knows exactly what to do with them.  The worst thing we can do with them is think that they will remain secret forever!  We all have them, if we will be honest with ourselves.  Isn't it about time that we give him access to what we have been so determined to keep tucked away?