A very relevant question in this discussion, one which I have often struggled with, is how can we remain in that secret, hidden place with God? For me when I first began seriously attempting to enter into a sustained quiet with God I discovered how dependant I am on being engaged in busyness. It was nearly impossible for me to quiet my mind and my heart because I was thinking about how I could help others and the praise I would get for my efforts. When I attempt to separate from those experiences to simply soak in God's presence I easily begin to feel stressed and irrelevant due to the dependency. I then begin to question my value and significance as a person because if I cannot be productive then what am I worth?. The temptation then is to quickly re-engage into the busyness so that I can feel that old familiar comfort which is born out of feeling I am useful again. But this is not rooted in the truth and there can be no freedom in deception and delusions. The truth is the only way I can know for sure that I have true value, worth and significance is to learn to sit quietly at my fathers feet and allow Him, the one who made me, to lavish His love on me and show me who I am. (Many of these thoughts were inspired by the writings of Henri Nouwen).