“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16
Running to the Only One Who Understood
There are places in life that become sacred, not because the ground itself is holy, but because God meets us there. For me, that place is a simple wooden cross hidden deep in the woods. Most people don’t know it exists. No map marks its location, and there are no signs pointing the way. Yet over the past year, it has become the place where God has done some of His deepest work in my heart. It was there that I realized one of the greatest truths of the Christian faith: the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
Not long after I was falsely accused and forced from my own home, I stood beside Lake Erie and threw my wedding ring into the water. To me, it represented the end. My marriage appeared to be over. My family was gone. I had lost my job. I no longer had a home to return to. Financially, emotionally, and spiritually, I felt stripped of almost everything that had once defined my life. I was overwhelmed trying to process what had happened and what the future might hold.
In those dark days, I became convinced that there was only one Person who truly understood what it meant to be falsely accused: Jesus. “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). Everyone else could offer advice, but only Christ had walked that road Himself. So I ran to Him.
My Secret Place
I built a simple wooden cross in a quiet grove of trees deep in the woods. It became my war room of sorts. It wasn’t magical, nor was the wood itself sacred. It was simply the place where I met with God. Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). While my “room” happened to be a secluded patch of woods, it became my secret place with the Lord.
Day after day I hiked there, regardless of the weather. Rain, wind, summer heat, and even more than two feet of snow could not keep me away. With snowshoes strapped to my boots and trekking poles in my hands, I made the journey simply to pour out my heart before God. Sometimes I wondered if I was imagining it, but as I prayed, the trees seemed to sway wildly one moment and stand perfectly still the next. Whether it was simply nature or God’s gentle reminder that He was near, I cannot say. I only know that I never left believing I had prayed alone.
That cross became the place where I told God everything. I brought Him my anger, bitterness, resentment, loneliness, grief, fear, confusion, love, joy, doubts, and hope. Nothing was hidden from Him because He already knew my heart. “Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8).
The Prayers I Prayed
At first, almost every prayer revolved around my own circumstances. I repented – often. I prayed for my sons’ hearts. I prayed for my wife’s heart and for healing from her brain tumor and other physical struggles. I prayed for a job, for peace, for wisdom, and for strength to endure another day. I prayed constantly about my court case. More than anything else, I prayed that the truth would come to light. I believed that if the truth were revealed, everything would somehow be restored. “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act” (Psalm 37:5).
Things I Nailed to the Cross
There were days when I would physically write things down and nail them too the cross. My unforgiveness. My anger. My pride. My desire to control what I could not control. My materialism. My need to defend myself. Those battles have not all disappeared. Some of them may remain until the Lord calls me home. But every time I return, I surrender them once again to the One who judges perfectly and righteously.
An Answer I Didn’t Expect
One cold winter night, while I was praying beside that cross in the dark, my defense attorney called. After months of waiting, the prosecutor and defense had reached an agreement. The charges had been reduced. It was agreed that there would be no jail time only a small fine. In that moment, two prayers were answered. The waiting was finally over, and a verdict had been reached. I had hoped that I might get to my boys following the ordeal.
Yet another prayer wasn’t answered in the way I had expected. I had prayed repeatedly that the truth would set me free. Instead, I knew that Jesus wasn’t primarily speaking about freedom from earthly accusations when He said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The greatest freedom wasn’t found in a courtroom. It was found in Christ. My circumstances didn’t suddenly disappear, but my heart slowly began to change.
My Prayer List Has Changed
Many of the prayers I first brought to that cross remain unanswered, at least in the ways I had hoped. Some of them may never be answered exactly as I envisioned. Yet over time, something unexpected happened. My prayer list became less about me and more about others.
Now I pray for my extended family. I pray for the men in The Redeemed ministry. I pray for several men I met while I was in jail. I pray for people in my church and small group who are carrying burdens of their own. I pray for broken marriages. I pray for my coworkers. I pray for a man from another state who recently contacted me after being separated from his family through false accusations of his own, all because he sent an angry text message. As God slowly healed my own wounds, He enlarged my heart to carry the burdens of others. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
Where Business Gets Done
That little cross in the woods remains where business gets done between me and God. It is where I confess, where I vent, where I worship, where I wrestle, where I give thanks, and where I remember that the Lord knows every thought before I ever speak it. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me… even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether” (Psalm 139:1, 4).
Only one close friend knows where it is, a dear brother in Christ whom I met through The Redeemed. Someday I hope he and his boys will visit it, for the same purpose, not because there is anything special about that location, but because perhaps it will encourage them to find a secret place of their own where they regularly meet with God. Everyone needs a place to be alone with the Lord.
We All Stand Equally
Today I realize that the foot of the cross is the one place where everyone stands equally on level ground. The wealthy and the poor. The successful and the forgotten. The pastor and the prisoner. The businessman and the addict. The theologian and the atheist. The faithful saint and the wandering prodigal. The murderer. The adulterer. The liar. The gossip. The proud. The broken. The self-righteous. The bitter. The resentful. The humble. Those who have followed Christ for decades and those who have just begun the journey. No one arrives deserving mercy. No one earns grace. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We all come exactly the same way, and we all hear the same invitation: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The ground is definitely level at the foot of the cross.
My Hope
Someday, I hope to take my three boys to that place in the woods. Not because I want them to admire a wooden cross, but because I want them to know the Savior who met their father there at the worst time of his life. I want each of them to have their own secret place where they can pour out every fear, every failure, every dream, and every burden before the Lord.
There was a time when I imagined renewing my wedding vows with my wife at that very spot. That possibility seems to fade a little more with each passing day. But whether that prayer is answered or not, one thing remains certain: God has never failed to meet me there.
Long before I ever found that hidden cross in the woods, Christ had already met me at His. Every time I return, I am reminded once again that no matter who we are, where we’ve been, or what we’ve done, the ground is still level at the foot of the cross.
