I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.
- Nehemiah 2:11-12

Over the last several weeks we’ve looked at Nehemiah’s bold, exciting, and faith-filled adventure – to rebuild Jerusalem’s crumbling wall and restore dignity to his people. He negotiated with the king and with governors, gathered resources, and made the months-long journey. Today’s passage picks up just as he’s about to start the public phase of his great building project.

And quite the quiet start it is!

Nehemiah surveys the city before he announces his intention to rebuild. He goes out by night to inspect the gates and walls of the city. He takes three days. He’s slow, methodical, and private.

Dallas Willard wrote extensively about what he called “the discipline of secrecy” in his book The Spirit of the Disciplines:

One of the greatest fallacies of our faith, and actually one of the greatest acts of unbelief, is the thought that our spiritual acts and virtues need to be advertised to be known.

We live in an age that struggles with secrecy. We are enticed to over-share and to do so in ways that are neither honest nor vulnerable. This doesn’t just happen on social media but has spilled into coffee shops, small groups, and churches.

Can you imagine Nehemiah embarking on his project today? If he were like many of us, he’d live-tweet his journey from Susa to Jerusalem, post a selfie of the wall on Instagram, and share inspirational wall rebuilding memes on Facebook. He’d tell everyone he met what he’s working on and invite them to join in immediately.

Nehemiah’s practice of secrecy created space for him to get a thorough understanding of the project before jumping into recruitment and construction. But, beyond that, healthy secrecy gave him space to do his work without the warping effect of being seen doing his work by all the people. God saw what he was doing and, at that stage, that was plenty.

How do you practice the discipline of secrecy? What makes secrecy challenging for you? How have you found it to be helpful?