having a hidden and secret life with the Lord to be solidly rooted in Him

This morning there was a question from brother Watchman Nee that really touched me, Besides the part of our life which is visible before men, how much hidden life do we have before the Lord?

On the one hand we shouldn’t be “hidden Christians” or “believers in secret”; on the other hand we need to have much more hidden life with the Lord than what we show outwardly.

What people should see in us is just “a lily”, something fragile, someone living in faith trusting in the Lord. But “behind the scenes”, in our personal life, we need to have many deep and hidden roots in Christ, spending time with the Lord in secret to receive His bountiful supply, seeking to find His face and receive answers from Him.

Sending forth roots like the trees of Lebanon

Hosea 14:5 says, He … will send forth roots like the trees of Lebanon. The trees of Lebanon are tall trees, great and mighty, and they have many hundreds of roots. These roots are deep and hidden, under the ground, and they determine the stability and steadfastness of the tree.

Our need is to go down in Christ, our rich soil, and have a lot of roots in Him, deeply buried in Him. We need to have a rich and deep hidden life with the Lord, sending roots in Him through many hundreds of conversations with Him and times spent with Him in private.

What is seen before men should be solidly based and supported by our many roots in our hidden life with the Lord. This is why we need to ask ourselves,

How much of your spiritual life with the Lord is seen outwardly? Does your spiritual life has any aspect that is NOT seen by man? Do you have a secret life with the Lord?

A budding lily with the roots of the cedars

In the same verse, Hosea 14:5, we see both the budding lily (so simple, fragile, pure) and the roots of the cedars of Lebanon (so strong, so deep, so supporting); somehow, these are coupled together.

On the one hand we need to live a simple life, unsophisticated life, a frail life of faith and trust in the Lord (Song of Songs 2:1-2). On the other hand, we need to send deep and hidden roots into Christ, and have our spiritual roots deeply buried and not shown (see Mark 4:6; Luke 8:13; Jer. 17:7-8; Rom. 6:4).

If we do not have deep roots in the Lord, when the sun comes we will be scorched. When tests come, when tribulation comes, when heat and burning comes, instead of us being matured and being ripened, we will be burned and scorched.

Beside the visible part of our Christian life before men we need to have a solid hidden life with the Lord. If not, it is so easy to not be serious with the Lord but rather have a lot of failures when trial comes.

In Matt. 6:6 the Lord encourages us to enter into our private room, shut the door behind you, and pray to our Father who is in secret. Our Father who sees in secret will repay us! Our prayer can not only be heard but also seen by the Father who sees in secret.

This going downward in Christ, being inward (not outward), and being hidden (not exposed) direction will create a solid foundation in our Christian life, something that will support us in the times of trials and tribulations.

Where is your private room with the Lord?

Today we may not have “our own private room” and our own quiet time when we can contact the Lord, but we need to FIND such a place and such a time.

Maybe you need to travel to work or to school for half an hour or so – why not take this time to speak to the Father in secret? You may have only 10 minutes here and there during the day, why not turn deeply inwardly and spend time with the Lord?

We all need to find a way to set a TIME and a PLACE where no one else and nothing else matters: it’s just us and the Lord. Ask the Lord, Lord, where is this place, and what is this time? I want to spend time with You regularly that I may have deep roots in Christ!

Lord, may our faith and our Christian life be NOT ONLY outward, before men. Make us the lilies who trust in You and who live by faith in You in purity. Also, Lord, we want to be those who have the roots of the cedars underneath and hidden. Save us from a rootless life. Lord, cause us to have hundreds and thousands of conversations with You that we may send down roots in You. Oh, Lord, increase our hidden life with You!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee (vol. 38, ch. 66), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 2 (entitled, The Restoration of Israel — Transformation in Life by God’s Love).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # This forces you to have / Hundreds and thousands of / Conversations with Him,
  # Take time to behold Him, gaze oft on His face, / Receiving His Person, and grace upon grace.
  # O Lord, I’m just a tree in You, / Rooted and being built in You, / Absorbing all You are to me, / What a place to be!