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The Blessing of being Disconnected

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 9, 2019
While living in Germany in 2011, most of my ministry was done over the internet. At one point we lost our subscription and had to wait weeks to be reconnected. So I tried another route, using an “internet stick” that connected through cell phone signals, and with great expectation went through the process of buying and setting it up, only to have it be so slow as to be useless. The following is what I wrote as I processed this disappointment by lifting my soul to God–letting go, holding on and rising above.
Thank you, Lord, for the disappointment with the internet stick yesterday–after spending 1.5 hours in the Vodafone shop, to come home and have it be so slow was a shock. Thank you for this new adventure you have laid before me.
 
Here is a case of setting my heart on something, on a solution, and then having it fail. Thank you for this, Lord, another chance to praise you by faith, to look away from my solutions to yours, to rest in you in the midst of difficulties–actually just a minor, simple inconveniences, really.
One factor is that I fear missing out on something like an important, time-sensitive email because of having no regular connection to the internet, having to go to a friend’s house to connect. But that is fear, not faith. I can trust you to get me on when it is needed, Lord, to give me wisdom and direction, protection and help.
Thank you for another chance to give you glory and honor through trust rather than lapse into complaining and self-pity. And I do choose to praise, to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving for what I don’t like, so that you may have more glory and honor, Lord.
Thank you again, Lord, for the opportunity to deny self, to reject the input of my feelings, to get up the shield of faith and quench those fiery darts of self-pity, discouragement, negative thinking and complaining.
You, Lord God, are the King of glory whom we can trust to bring about what is good and best and wise. So, I praise you for your gracious kindness which you have stored up for us. As it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
I praise you, Lord Jesus, my Great Shepherd, that you have purposes for this disappointment. At the very least it is taking my eyes off of the small, temporary and unimportant aspects of life and shifting them to the eternal and powerful truths you want me to live in.
I thank you that you are directing me away from continually looking at things on line rather than spending my time on better things. Thank you for this discipline which will lead to greater freedom. To know you is all I need; forgive me for trying to draw my happiness, my security, my sense of control from such temporary, unimportant things in life.
 
My purpose is to live for you, to be obedient to your Word and Spirit, to dwell in your Word rather than in my feelings and to praise you for your grace and goodness, Lord.
Today may I live for you with all my heart, being filled with your Spirit and doing what is right and honoring to you. Help me to praise you in all things, to look away from the darkness to the light, to reject complaining and negativeness and instead to rejoice in the great privilege of knowing you, Lord. Amen.
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Proverbs 16:9

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 9, 2019
 
 
When we wake up in the morning and find ourselves with God, we are not only in His hand, we are also in the stream of events that He is orchestrating around us and in us. Each happening is designed to carry us forward in the tasks and purpose He has for us. We are moved on whether we know it or not: “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” (Pro. 16:9).
 
Every day we are given opportunities to replay the Garden of Eden story: choosing to do our own selfish thing or joining God in His great plan. For instance, we can complain and gripe, or cooperate through praise and thanksgiving; we can do our own petty things, indulging ourselves or, standing in awe of Him, surrender to His higher and greater purposes in obedience and self-denial.
 
To live in these truths allows us to see more and more of the wonders God has poured into our lives: meaning, purpose, protection, challenge, adventure, security, significance, honor, goodness and guidance, to name a few.
 
Each day is a new opportunity to join our Heavenly Shepherd as He leads us forth into the pasture of the day, to know that we are moving forward and upward in the perfect plan that He has prepared, filled with purpose and potential for providing Him glory, for defeating the enemy with praise, for seeing others swept into the Kingdom.
 
The negative feelings which will arise from our flesh–feelings of uselessness and purposelessness, of alienation and fear, of self-condemnation and shame–are an affront to this reality. In Him, in the proven Truth of His Word, we can turn from and reject these feelings and instead live in the light of His acceptance and presence, His purpose, His plan that is for our good and His glory.
 
Praise be to you, Lord God, for your mighty, unswerving, unstoppable, wise and good plans, into which you have brought us. Praise you that we are in the great stream of your history, where you are moving things to a conclusion and carrying us with you.
 
Praise you that our trust can be in you, rather than our own feeble wisdom and inadequate strength, or in the government or the weather or money or power. In faith we praise you now for what you are going to do in your wisdom and love today, this week, and in the rest of our lives.
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1993

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 7, 2019
Jul, Woohan and I had begun bringing our three house groups together for worship once a quarter. The locals liked this so much that they suggested doing it each month. And then it became an every week event, melding the three groups into a single congregation.
 
Following this development, God spoke separately to the three of us leaders about using small groups to further develop the church. So, uniting our efforts, we did some reading together, and then began to talk about small groups with those who were potential leaders.
 
We divided the fellowship up into geographical groups; each one had young and old, newer and older believers, so each so was a cross section of life.
 
For each group we selected a “shepherd” and an “assistant” from among the potential local leaders. We also assigned two workers to each group. When we explained all this to the prospective local leaders, they objected that they were not ready for such responsibility. So, we held a sample small group meeting with just them.
There was an icebreaker–not a game like in our western society, but some kind of sharing–then a singing/worship time, followed by an inductive Bible study, and last, a prayer time. Then we had tea together.
 
When we were done, several said, “Oh, we can do this! But we want to have a foreigner with us, too.” We assured them that this would be so, and that we would prepare the inductive study for them. They just had to lead it.
 
After nine months of these small group meetings, I went with a number of them to a one-week family camp for believers. Each night a different city’s fellowship was responsible for the evening service. In every one, the foreigner preached the sermon.
 
We were scheduled for Thursday night. The local brothers came to me and asked, “What are you going to speak on?”
“I’m not going to speak,” I replied, “You are!”
“On, we can’t do that! We’re not ready for such leadership!”
“Of course you are,” I countered. “You can each give a short testimony. Or some of you can do a little summary of one of the inductive Bible studies we’ve done. With the Lord’s help you are well capable of doing the whole service!”
 
They reluctantly agreed to try it–and did a great job. It was a real confidence builder that took them to the next level of leadership.
 
To train and then empower people moves them along in maturity—but we have to be willing to step back and let go, to give up the fulfilling roles that we have enjoyed so they have room to grow.
One final aspect of finishing the church planting process and “letting it go,” was having some kind of a constitution. We got a rather extensive one to use as an example and went through it step by step with the leaders. We pointed out different difficulties that can arise and how to anticipate them by inserting provisions in the constitution.
 
In the end they voted to accept just one small section, consisting of the most basic aspects, and it served them well for the next couple of years.
 
There was one last important element essential for full local leadership: at least one stronger, visionary leader. Those we had in leadership positions were good men, but none were strong leaders. They were all on equal footing; no one stood out as having the necessary qualities.
 
The Lord knew this and He brought along the exact person we needed. One Sunday Ivan showed up with a new fellow in tow. This newcomer, Alex, hung in the background, but my wife struck up a conversation with him.
 
It turned out that he had been a lone believer for several years in anotheer city, coming out of a Communist background. After moving to the capital, he had met Ivan and was glad to find a fellowship to attend.
 
Alex was an educated fellow from a higher-class family and was supporting himself by translating films from English into the local language. He was not one of those who came to Christ at minus twenty-two, but had come at about zero level, and was now at a plus ten.
 
He was an eager learner and became a regular attender, soon joining in with the leadership group. He led his fiancé to the Lord, and I performed the marriage ceremony for their church wedding. When we left that church plant in 1993, Alex was among the six shepherds appointed to the leadership core.
 
Picture: the fellowship in 1993 with some of the local leaders. Abraham is on the far left, Alex in the middle back
 
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Surety

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 7, 2019
 
One of the wonderful aspects of the truth we looked at yesterday–that God has a plan for good which he laid out for history and for us–is that God is absolutely faithful: He plans, and then unwaveringly, inexorably and powerfully keeps all on course.
This is obvious in the dozens of prophecies given in the Old Testament which are exactly fulfilled in the New Testament, many of them thousands of years after being given. God promises and He brings it to pass, period.
The rebellion and evil of Satan, of men, or of me cannot derail His purposes, His over-arching plan. He has the infinite ability to weave our evil actions into the overall outcome of the good that He desires. As Joseph said to his brothers near the end of his life: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Gen 50:20)
This is also seen in Daniel’s life, where every attack on him resulted in more glory for God and more influence for Daniel. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand” (Pro. 19:21).
This was especially encouraging to me as, over the several years, I helplessly watched Barbara spiral down into depression and weakness. God has a plan here and I can trust Him in it, join Him in it, knowing that in the larger picture, He will use it for our good.
God’s faithfulness assures us that He will bring the right outcomes at the right time. His plans are so certain that they can be expressed as finished before they come to pass, calling Jesus, “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world” Rev 13:8b. The certainty that Jesus would die for us was so solid, so set in stone that God was able to express it as being done before history even began.
You, the living God, the Triune Lord, are all we need, for you are the faithful Creator and the trustable Ruler of all. To you be glory today as I join you in your plans, listening to your Spirit, living in your power according to your Word, being a person of praise. May you be exalted in my life today. Amen.
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Future?

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 6, 2019
 
Lord, I praise you that I did not wake up alone this morning, for you were there, waiting for me, ready with the elements of this day, all carefully arranged, wisely laid out, lovingly prepared. Truly, “My times are in your hands…” (Ps. 31:15).
As human beings, we live in the river of history where events propel us through the day, the week, the year and beyond. The vast majority of these events are outside of our control, swirling in and out of our lives without our desire, beyond our power: wars, floods, famines, storms, political changes, economic shifts, accidents, illnesses and deaths.
These come and go in seemingly meaningless, random patterns, empowering some, snuffing out the lives of others, bringing and taking prosperity, uniting and separating families and strangers.
Even on a personal level I have only a certain amount of decision-making control, mostly in how to spend the time, money and energy given me. In the limited scope of my life, this seems to be quite a bit of power, but outside events can easily disrupt this control: an accident, sickness, loss of income, a fire, a storm, a fight ending a relationship Any one of these can come to me easily without my wanting or being able to prevent it.
To think of how powerless I am is disturbing: human beings do not like weakness, randomness and insecurity. However, when we become a child of God, born again into His family, there is a great shift in this scene. While the situation remains the same, there is one significant truth added that alters everything drastically: all those events and things that are out of my control are fully and securely in the hands of our loving and powerful Heavenly Father.
He who breathed the stars into existence, who hung the earth on nothing, who set it in exactly the right orbit around the sun, who spun it at the needed speed on a perfectly tilted axis, who formed the mountains and valleys, who spoke the animals into life–He is the One who holds our lives, our future in His hands.
He is not only in control, He has a specific, detailed plan, one that will not fail: “…the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” And no one can frustrate Him in it: “The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples” (Psalm 33:11,10). No matter how hard we may try, we cannot circumvent what God has prepared: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD” (Pro. 21:30).
And what our Father has prepared for us is good: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'” (Jer. 29:11). He may lead us through many difficulties, as the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, but these are for our good, our maturity, our equipping, our bringing more glory to God.
So, Lord God, I willingly submit myself to your plan for today, whatever it may be, painful or pleasant, difficult or delightful, and commit myself to honoring you by offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving for whatever will come.
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Worship Journal Entry

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 5, 2019
 
An entry from my worship journal written in 2015
This morning I slept until 7:45! Not to my liking. I’d rather get up much earlier, as I usually do, but I praise you anyway, Lord, for this. You know what is best, and I thank you for what you have allowed.
You are the God of glory, the Lord of Love, the King of kindness, the Ruler of righteousness and the Shepherd of strength. To you we belong, as well as our time, energy, abilities, possessions and relationships.
 
To you also belong trust, surrender, dependence, obedience and love. To you belong worship, praise, honor, fear, awe and glory. And to you belong wisdom, power, grace, goodness and holiness. All of these you share with us whole-heartedly, abundantly, richly, graciously.
Praise be to you, Lord Jesus, for your sweet shepherding of us through the valley of the shadow of death, through the disappointments, hurts and difficulties of life, through loss, failure, pain and suffering, through conviction, repentance, forgiveness and restoration. You are wise and good in knowing what we need.
I thank you for the “limbo” we are in now with Barbara’s illness and the disorientation she is suffering. I praise you, Father, that you have things planned out: how long we must wait, the help you will give and the circumstances we will go through.
I praise you, our Sovereign God, who allows us the privilege of choice in our sphere of responsibility, and that you then weave together our choices, both good and bad, and those of others around us, to bring about the great conclusions you desire.
Praise be to you for the guidance you will give today, the protection you will provide and the strength you will grant. Help me to make decisions in partnership with you, bringing about what you desire for today.
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Psalm 34:21-22

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 5, 2019
 
Psalm 34:21 “Evil will slay the wicked;”
[we cannot play with evil and win. In the end it will devour those who indulge in it. The devil always destroys his own, of that we can be certain.]
In contrast, “the foes of the righteous will be condemned.”
[The righteous, those who are in Christ, will be vindicated and their foes, those who oppose righteousness, will be judged, condemned and sent to the holding place of wickedness, locked up forever. This includes Satan and his minions as well as those humans who reject good and love evil, who refuse to bow before Jesus as God, Savior and Lord.
 
Praise you, Lord, for your just and right hatred of evil, for your not allowing it into Heaven. You are purely good and only what is good will be allowed into the new Heaven and new earth, continuing for eternity.
Praise you that you made the way to eliminate evil from our nature, to free us from both the essence and penalty of sin, to transform us from enemies into emissaries of your Kingdom, from being condemned criminals to cherished children.]
Psalm 34:22 “The LORD redeems his servants;”
[In you, Lord Jesus, we, your beloved servants, have been bought back from the kingdom of darkness, from dwelling in the land of the dead, from blind stumbling through life and we have been ushered into the Kingdom of light, sight, love and life.
I praise you for your faithfulness in following through on your promises given in the Garden, Father, to provide a Savior and salvation for all. I praise you for holding open the gate of grace to every human being, continually offering eternal life to all, and bestowing it on who are willing to come, bow before you and receive your forgiveness.]
“no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.”
[You, Lord Jesus, are the true and mighty Rock of refuge, the Place of protection and pardon, the Fortress of favor and forgiveness. Praise be to you for your lavish Love, your persistent Power, you gracious Grace and your great Goodness as you seek to bring all into your Kingdom, even though you know all will not come.
Your unending Love is so Mighty, so Eternal, so All-embracing, always flowing on and on in spite of what we are. You are worthy of our love and adoration, our fear and obedience, our worship and exaltation.
Lord, today may you be glorified in my life because you are worthy. May you be lifted high in my being, exalted in my words, extolled in my thoughts, honored in my actions and magnified in my motives. To you belongs honor; may it flow bountifully to you today. Amen.
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Psalm 34:19-20

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 2, 2019

 

Psalm 34:19 “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all….”

[Being righteous in you, LORD, does not protect us from trouble–I think of Job and his trials, of Daniel and the multiple life-threatening crises he experienced. But as you were clearly with each of them, so you are with each of us in every challenge and will properly deliver us from every difficulty when the proper time comes.

You may deliver us at the moment, or in a while, or years later or at death; you know the best timing and we can trust you in it. I think of Abraham waiting for a son, of Joseph waiting to get out of prison, of Elisha’s flood of difficulties, of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus in what they suffered. You were with each and delivered them at the right time and in the right way. Praise you for this promise which I personally can trust, even as my wife is in the midst of a distressing illness with no end in sight.]

Psalm 34:20 ‘he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”

[Here is a clear reference to how you protected Jesus in His beatings, crucifixion, anguish and death. In spite of all the physical abuse he took, you kept his bones whole–every single one. You are the God of detail, of power, of total awareness.

And so you also work in our lives. I think of the many times you have spared me in driving, times when I should have had an accident because of my own poor choices, but you sovereignly intervened and kept us safe.

You are God, you are King, you are wise and you are powerful. You are worthy of our trust. I surrender myself to you this day, willingly giving my life into your hands again.

Fill me with your Spirit, may He overflow onto to all whom I meet today. May you be honored and exalted in what I think, say, do and accomplish. May I praise you in and for all things. May your name be lifted up by my responses to whatever comes. I praise you for the privilege of exalting you in the midst of suffering. Amen.

 

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Psalm 34:18

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 2, 2019
Written in 2014
 
Psalm 34:18 “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
[You, Lord, know the heart of each person; you see when we are wounded and overwhelmed, cringing and crushed by the pains of life. And you are there with us, working in us, drawing us to yourself, comforting and supporting us.
We are by nature stubborn and independent, rebellious and stiff-necked, so we often selfishly refuse to come to you, thinking we have the answers to the questions of life. Surrender often comes only when we are crushed and broken by circumstances (often of our own making) and our inability to cope. It is then, in that trauma, that we see our true state of total weakness, of dependence on you, our sinfulness and rebellion, our need for forgiveness and salvation. You pin us down to help us face reality.
This is exactly what you did in me to bring the initial surrender, shutting me into a corner at the end of the earth on an island off the coast of Siberia. There I was powerless to escape–and I praise you for it, for with that dark experience you ushered me into the Kingdom of Light.
Lord, do continue to bring whatever breaking is needed so that we may surrender to you more deeply and be a more useful instrument in your gracious, powerful hands.
I thank you for what we are going through with Barbara’s illness and depression right now and for how you will use it for good. You are trustable, you are gracious, and you are wise.
 
Therefore, we can rest in your love, offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving every day, thereby honoring you and opening the way for you to show us the salvation of the Lord. This salvation could be giving us grace to endure this cross, or it may be bringing healing. Whatever it is, we praise you for it now, for your way is always good.]
 
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Developing Leaders

Published by S.M. Wibberley on September 1, 2019
Following the drama of arrests, trials and acquittal, our attention was now focused on developing leaders for the fellowship, a long and difficult task.
 
If you take the average person who comes to Christ from a working or middle class background in the western part of the world, they are at what I call ground zero in their lives. They are definitely in need of a Savior but are able to function pretty well in every day life.
 
In contrast, most of the believers in our little fellowship had come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Many were fringe people who didn’t fit well into society to start with. This meant that instead of starting at zero, they were at what I judged to be minus twenty-two!
 
There were seemingly endless things they had to learn relationally, emotionally, intellectually, economically and spiritually in order to come to a reasonably healthy place in life.
 
The fact that many of these early believers were from the fringes of society was not surprising. They were the people who had little to lose in becoming a follower of Christ. Solid working class or middle class people risked the loss of jobs, families and positions if they were to leave the local religion and become followers of Jesus.
 
One example of one such person was Abraham. He as a fourteen-year old high school dropout when we met him. His mother was the second wife, meaning his father had two wives at the same time, one legal, one not. And this meant that Abraham’s family got only “scraps” of time and money from the father.
 
When Abraham’s mother became a believer, the father completely abandoned the family of five children, age sixteen down to two year old twins. At the time Abraham was working as an apprentice for a glazier, a very low paying, basically dead end job.
 
However, he was open to spiritual things and after accepting the Lord, he proved to be a “thirsty” disciple. He began having a regular quiet time and pursued input from several of us.
 
Then he took a very significant step: he forgave his father for all the pain, rejection and abandonment he’d given Abraham and his siblings.
 
To forgive is absolutely antithetical to both the culture and religion of this country. To forgive is viewed as a weakness. If you are hurt, you cut off the relationship and nurture hatred for that person for the rest of your life. Abraham , however, rejected his culture in favor of a biblical worldview. Forgiving his father set him free from the past and shot him ahead both spiritually and practically.
 
He went back to high school while continuing to work part time to help support his mother and sisters. He became one of the leaders of the church plant, the youngest and in the end the most mature of the original members. By the time he was nineteen, he had become one of the elders.
 
After graduating from high school, Abraham set his sights on a university education. However, in the educational system in the country, in order to enter university, you had to pass a very difficult test that is designed to keep people out. The score you got on this test determined what subject you would study and what school you would attend. You could state your preference, but without a very high score, you had very little chance of getting your wish.
 
Everyone goes to special tutoring schools for one or two years to prepare for this exam but Abraham had neither the money nor the time to do that. Instead he studied on his own while working full-time and serving as a leader in the church.
 
When he got the results of his exam, we all rejoiced with him, for he not only got the subject he wanted to study–graphic arts–but would study at the university he wanted, right in his home city! It was a miracle that flowed from Abraham’s valuing and obeying God’s Word and from doing his part in diligent preparation.
 
He went on to graduate second in his class and then married the girl was first in the class and whom he had led to the Lord. He became a published artist, an assistant pastor and later the director of the national children’s ministry as well as a church planter. All this was accomplished by a boy who, by every appearance, had been condemned to a life of mediocrity and poverty. When a life is surrendered to God, He lifts it up in every area.
 
There were others who also persisted in obeying the Lord, abandoning their natural worldview for a biblical one and they are also are now leaders in churches and ministries. Transformation comes on every level when we surrender to Him.
Picture: Abraham’s mother with Barbara
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