Saturday, April 26, 2014

Keeping secrets ~ from everyone but Him

"a secret message"
Judges 3:19

I have a secret.

Well, it's not really my secret; it belongs to a friend of mine.  We were chatting last week, and she asked me to pray for a situation in her home.  And she asked me not to tell anyone.  Which, of course, goes without saying for a lot of sensitive conversations and prayer requests.  Women sometimes talk about very close-to-the-heart issues.

Normally I don't think it's a big deal to hold something in confidence.  By that I mean it's not hard for me to do so.  It would be easy enough for me to say that it's because I'm not the gossiping type ~ but I guess most women would say that.  I think it's true, but the other fact is that I really don't have anyone to tell.  My circles of friends are fairly small, and pretty much revolve around church friends and Bible study friends.  Neither of those groups know each other, and when I do see them, I'm there for church or Bible study, and there's just not that much time for chatting.  So any secrets stay secret.

But every once in a while, I'm handed a secret that's a burden.  Like this one.  And the problem is the weight of it... the grief it gives me.  I'm aching for my friend, and I feel like if I could tell my husband, or another close friend, then they could be praying, too. 

It's not necessary, of course.  God doesn't ignore prayer requests while waiting for a bigger crowd to join in.  And I'm probably not the only one in whom my friend has confided.  But if I am the only other person that knows my friend's secret, then God is treasuring the prayers of two.

I feel honored that my friend feels I'm "worthy" of her confidence.  And I feel loved, knowing that God hears our hearts and cherishes our prayers.  And I feel grateful, that it was part of His plan for us to share our prayer-burdens with others.


But mostly, I feel a sweet, joyful responsibility for my friend's supplication, and I continually lift it to Him.


~ "For where two or three are gathered
together in My name,
      I am there in the midst of them." ~
Matthew 18:20
~

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