One of the first Christian (auto)biographies I ever read was Corrie Ten Boom’s ‘The Hiding Place’ which dealt with her family’s life-changing decision to hide Jews in their home during the Second World War. The title always reminds me not only of the literal hiding place they provided (at great personal cost; she and her sister were sent to concentration camps and her father and sister both died during imprisonment) but their hope in God as their ultimate hiding place (Ps 32:7).
Phil Wickham’s new album ‘Children of God’ includes a beautiful song called ‘The Secret Place’ which reminds us that God is our rock of refuge to which we can always go (see Ps 71:1-3). That secret place can be anywhere; it’s a place of communion with God which nourishes and feeds us, giving us strength to stand.
‘Better is a moment that I spend with You
Than a million other days away
I’m running, I’m running
I’m running to the secret place.
Where will you run, my soul?
Where will you go when wells run dry?
When the wind starts to blow,
How’re you gonna keep this flame alive?
In the fading light when night is breaking,
I know You will always be waiting,
You’ll always be there.
I’m running to the secret place where You are, where You are.
I’ll sing to You of all the ways You stole my heart, stole my heart.
Better is a moment that I spend with You
Than a million other days away.
I’m running, I’m running,
I’m running to the secret place.
You are my only hope,
You are the rock on which I stand.
You will not let me go;
I know that I’m safe inside Your hands.
Hands are lifted high,
Hearts awake to life.
We are satisfied here with You, here with You.
Chains will hit the floor;
Broken lives restored.
We couldn’t ask for more here with You, here with You.’ (‘The Secret Place’, Phil Wickham)
