Excerpts From The Secret Things of God

By Dr. Henry Cloud

Available From Howard Books, September 2007

Responding to The Secret

You may have picked up this book because you’ve read or heard of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. In that book, Byrne explores our relationship to the universe and how understanding what lies beyond the veil drastically affects our lives, relationships, and goals. The fact that millions have responded to The Secret shows the deep hunger we all have for two things: one, we all want to understand the nature of the universe and those things beyond what we can see; and, two, we all have a hunger for principles and practices that make life work . . .

This book is not a Christian argument for or against The Secret. In fact, it sometimes agrees with and sometimes differs with it. Over and above being a discussion on the principles of The Secret, this book affirms the deep spiritual hunger that the success of Byrne’s book has shown all of us to have. And it offers tested spiritual truths based on the Bible that help make life work. For all of us long to know what more is out there, who this force is, how it works, how we can get on the right side of it, and if it has a name.

Invisible Laws at Work

I believe that, as The Secret says, there is more to life than just what we see in front of us. It is true that the visible things we see and attain do not begin in the visible world, but the invisible world. If you reach your goals, you do so because spiritual principles are at work. If you find a fulfilling relationship, it is not just because a friend sets you up or you find a good dating service. There are invisible laws at work.

If you overcome depression or addiction, it is not just because you tried harder. It is because spiritual realities are involved. The Creator of the universe who set it all up has built into life spiritual laws that are as real as physical laws, like gravity, and when we get on the right side of those laws, life just works better.

In this book, I want to show some of the most powerful secrets of God that affect the kinds of things that psychologists worry about . . . and that you care about:

• how you feel

• how your relationships work

• how you reach your goals and dreams

• how to make life work

• how to find and know God

Seek and Find

One of the draws of The Secret has been that anyone, anywhere can reach out to the universe and it will respond. This has touched a spiritual chord in millions of readers. One of the main differences in the Judeo-Christian faith and others is that the One we reach out to is a personal God who knows us individually and cares about us. This God makes an absolute guarantee that anyone who wants to find him will. There is no trick, no gimmick, no maze or standard that those who desire him must negotiate. He promises that if we want to find him, we will. How can we be so sure? Because he is looking for us and always has been. That is the secret to finding God in the Judeo-Christian faith. We will find him because he wants to be found—even more than that, he is trying to find us each and every day . . .

The bottom line is that if you seek him, he will show up. That is the first secret. And the good news is that he is already looking for you.

If you do not know him, then just seek him. Whenever we seek him, we are responding to his stirring something in us. So respond to that little voice inside, those thoughts, those wonderings. Talk to him; tell him that you are looking for him. Talk to someone who can help you.

If you do know him and cannot find him right now, hear this: that is normal too. Even if you feel that you are going through a “desert” experience and that God seems far, far away, know that in reality he is always near. Either there is some reason he is not doing anything at that moment, or he is doing something and you cannot see it. Though it may be distressing, it is a normal part of the spiritual life.

The Secret to All other Secrets

The act of trust, or faith, is the way we join ourselves to the sources of what we need. Since we are finite and limited, we have to get what we need from outside ourselves. From the beginning of life, we grow to the extent that we can trust and receive the things we need. The more we trust and invest in the sources that provide what we need, the more we will receive them.

This secret of trust is the key that opens the door to all the other secrets. Through trust, we connect with God in a way that shows our reliance on him and our surrender to him. This is what he desires most from us. He wants us to trust him and depend on him more than any other thing. In fact, he says that without trust, or faith, it is impossible to please him, to have a relationship with him, or to receive anything from him. Trust is the essence of “faith,” and it opens you up to all that you need from God . . .

Rhonda Byrnes in The Secret says, “Your job is not to figure out the how. The how will show up out of a commitment and belief in the what.” I have to admire the strength of commitment and the willingness to believe in something beyond ourselves that I hear in this statement. As a Christian, the object of my faith—the what—is not an impersonal universe but a personal God. And when that willingness to believe—that trust—is placed in the God who really can help us, our lives will change in ever-expanding ways.

God Wants Good Things for You

Did you know that God is happy when you do well? Just like a father who wants his children to do well, God wants you to do well too. That, by the way, is one of the reasons that the secret of trusting him makes so much sense. For you to trust him and really depend on him for your dreams, you need to believe that God is for you, not against you, and that he actually wants good things for you.

Research shows us that people’s success depends greatly on their outlook, their view of the world. It also depends on their view of God. Just look around and you’ll see this is true. People who believe that God is for them take bold steps toward their pursuits and goals. But people who think God or life is against them hold back—always afraid to take the next step and never going anywhere.

God Doesn’t Want You to Feel Guilty

Some people have a misunderstanding about guilt. They think it is a good thing, that it somehow motivates them to do better. So . . . if they do something bad or do not live up to the expectations of God or others, they see guilt as the motivation that will turn them around and make them behave differently. They think if they feel bad enough about something, they will change. Unfortunately, they not only apply this theory to themselves, but to others. They will often make someone else feel bad, hoping to change the person’s behavior. It’s the old “in the doghouse” plan.

But the reality is, guilt doesn’t work all that well. And more important than that, God does not want you to feel guilty. In fact, he does not want it so badly that he died on the cross to forgive you of anything you have done or ever will do so that you will never have to suffer from feelings of condemnation ever again. He wants you to feel as white as snow, with no stains of guilt anywhere on your soul. He knows that people who are not burdened by guilt and shame are free to be the best they can be.

And besides that, guilt actually gets in the way of your becoming better. It does not change you long-term; it only slows you down. Your guilty spouse does not become a more loving spouse because you made him or her feel bad. The guilt an addict feels never breaks the cycle; rather, it pushes him or her into another episode to escape how bad he feels. Guilt is part of the problem, not the solution. The answer is simple, and the answer is total forgiveness. No strings attached, nothing to do to deserve it except to accept it. That is the forgiveness God provides, no matter what you might have heard. That kind of forgiveness leads to freedom from your past and all your failures, and it sets you free to have a very different kind of future.

There is No Such Thing as Disconnected and Happy

Hear this: in order for life to work, it must be lived in the way it was designed. And it was designed by God to be lived in close relationship with others. Not only your happiness but your very life depends on your ability to connect with others in a deep and meaningful way. God made you that way, because he is that way . . .

God did not intend for us to be alone. One of the secrets of our faith is that our God, who made us in his image, is not isolated. He does not exist “by himself.” He exists in relationship and always has. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one, but they are also separate persons who exist in love with one another. Haven’t you noticed that everything in the universe that is alive is relational in nature? Rocks aren’t alive and they aren’t relational; but puppies are. The things that have breath are all in relationship to others.

We live in a relational universe. To survive, and to prosper, we have to be connected to others.

Your Thoughts Affect the Way You Feel

One of the things I like about Rhonda Byrne’s book The Secret is the emphasis it puts on the power of our thoughts. Although I don’t agree that we can attract everything we want to ourselves through our thoughts, as if we were God. I do appreciate Byrne’s emphasis on the impact our thoughts have on our lives and our ability to control them. Our thoughts are so important to our well-being and to the outcomes of life that the Bible talks about them a lot.5 Many of us feel powerless to control our thoughts, but being in control of our thoughts is one of the secrets to controlling how we feel—and thus, how happy we are. The apostle Paul tells us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” In other words, you don’t need to let stuff roll around in your head that is not of God; that kind of negativity does not produce life. Anything that destroys good things in you is not from God . . .

Do you have a few of those loose thoughts and emotions and impulses running around inside your head? When those “warped” thoughts shoot through your head, they can control your life, your relationships, and your destiny. They can make you depressed, despondent, hopeless, addicted, or anxious. They can also ruin your relational life and your ability to meet your goals and dreams. It’s imperative that you gain control of what goes on inside your head. Because the truth is, what happens inside your head will find its way outside—into your life.

Selected excerpts from

The Secret Things of God: Unlocking the Treasures Reserved for You

By Dr. Henry Cloud

Reprint permission available upon request

Contact Pamela McClure at McClure Muntsinger Public Relations:

615.595.8321, pamela@mmpublicrelations.com