Have you ever felt a longing inside you so deep, so profound, that sometimes you barely notice its existence? And yet you know it is there. It is like an aching void within that you long to fill but don’t always know how. You believe that you have been made for fellowship with God and that fellowship is profoundly satisfying in the way that people, places and things could never be. There is a secret place in every one of us, a God-shaped hole that only God can fill.

The secret place is the deepest part of your personality that is made for fellowship with God. It is best pictured by the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament Temple. It was the private, sacred room which housed the Ark of the Covenant and where God’s presence manifested in visible, palpable glory. For New Testament believers, the secret place is deep within our spirit where God lives and manifests himself by his Holy Spirit. It is a place of deep rest, inexpressible joy and pure worship – it is unblocked communion with the Living God.

The story of our secret place is the story of two bridges. The first bridge is the bridge between our outward life and our inner world. Our lives are often so centred on external necessities, on the blessings we long for and the suffering we try so hard to avoid. God is calling us away from the outer courts of daily concerns and lifelong ambitions. His Spirit is beckoning us to cross the chasm and draw near to him in the secret place, to a place where nothing else matters but him. The bridge is Christ himself who has made the way open for us to enjoy unimaginable delights in the Father’s presence.

The second bridge is also where Christ leads us. This time from the secret place by a new route back to the outside world. Before we were centred on ourselves – our peace, our blessing and our sense of entitlement to a happy, trouble-free life. This time we bring the fragrance of Christ with us, the fragrance which speaks more of his glory than our comfort. Those who travel by that bridge carry something valuable with them. Something that can bless both fellow-believers and those who are yet without Christ.

The world is waiting for the kind of testimony that only true communion with God can bring. This testimony is not centred on our proven success and our ability to impress. Rather, it comes from the sweetness of a life that exists always to make God look good. It is most powerful when we show in good times and (more particularly) in bad times that we demand nothing from God but depend on him and him alone for all things.