There are m o m e n t s when it all

seems to Collapse. This was the day. Pastor Shadrack and his church had moved to their third location in just four

years. Even in the midst of a massive city like Nairobi, they seemingly could not find even a tiny corner of rest. Just a few years

back, their church was located in the “Pipeline” slum of East Nairobi. It was not a preferred location by any human standard,

but it was where God’s work was called to be done. The church in Pipeline lay directly on the easement for the city’s main underground

gas line. Soon after the church made the final payment on the plot of land, the government ordered everyone to vacate the pipeline’s “right of way”. It

had taken years of meagre, but faithful, tithes and offerings to “purchase” the land and build the church structure. It was all swept away in one moment. We had taught several Pastors’

Bible Seminars at the church, and found the sudden situation equally distressing and discouraging.

Pastor Shadrack and the congregation did what few others willingly did. They moved within the government mandated three months. They took down the timbers and rusted sheet metal, and moved on. The new location was, of course, infinitely more expensive due to sudden surge in demand, and shortage of supply, for land within the slum. God graciously planted them on the main road at the edge of Pipeline. More people became aware of the ministry, and the congregation

grew. The pruning had yielded

great fruit. God’s hand was evident in other ways as well: a few months later the Pipeline slum literally exploded due to a fuel leak. A fireball swept through the slum and 213 people were instantly incinerated…including several pastors who had refused to move.

The “church on the main road” quickly became home for more and more saints from the slum areas, as well as a new location for some of our Bible Seminars. Pastor Shadrack’s expository Bible teaching became even more widely known and appreciated than in Pipeline. When I visited the church last year, I was pleased to see everyone coming with their Bible, notebook and pen in hand. It wasn’t a show to impress me, as my arrival was unexpected. It was genuine. The church was settled once again, and prospering in all the right ways. The cost had been great, but the fruit even greater. But it’s when “all the cylinders are firing again” that we can quickly forsake our reliance upon the Lord. God brings those Moments of Helplessness to help us, not hurt us. Unknowingly, it became time for another helping.

This January another mandate came from the government. The road would be widened to make way for a super highway to the city’s airport. Affluent car owners were tired of the painfully slow trip through downtown. Time to forge a more “modern” path…albeit directly through an area inhabited by millions of slum dwellers in rusty tin shacks. And so Pastor Shadrack and his congregation moved on once again. Rather than fight and fret, they prayed and went on with their pilgrimage. Ending up in another “more expensive due to the circumstances” place than before. The land rent was substantially higher, as they were squeezing into a more developed area of stone-built structures. Although still a poor area, the use of their rusted sheet metal was forbidden. The only place that had “room for them” was an abandoned

“building” consisting of

four walls. No doors, no windows, no floor…and no roof. In the final analysis, they had lost everything from their prior church, except their plastic chairs…and their Faith in God.

It was a heroic act of Faith to put up the roof. Church members sacrificially gave of their time, tithes and talents. The doors and windows would have to wait. It was a glorious and sunny Sabbath day that they met to give thanks for their new church home. Seasoned saints from even before the “Pipeline” church were present and faithfully attending. The church choir led the congregation in Praise and Worship. God’s holy and helping hand had delivered them once again. Never again would they doubt Him because of mere Circumstances, obstacles or “setbacks.” After all, hadn’t He seen them through “once again”?

As the Worship was coming to a close, and Pastor Shadrack was approaching the pulpit, the climax came. But not in the way one might expect. On an otherwise calm, bright and cloudless morning, a sudden and inexplicable whirlwind ripped the new roof off and sent it crashing down on the congregation! No signal or sign, no warning, no time for any “made for Hollywood” escapes. Instantly, the majority of the congregation was buried beneath broken timbers and twisted, sharp metal roofing sheets. It was, indeed, another Helpless Moment.

There are moments for all of us when it all seems to Collapse: relationships we hold dear, principles by which we live, bulwarks of security we have built, purposes for which we have learned and labored. Years, perhaps even lifetimes, of persevering Effort can be swept away in a single moment. Many are experiencing this in very personal, profound and unanticipated ways in the past few years. Retirement plans have been decimated. Homes have gone into bankruptcy. Marriages are strained,

finances have been drained…and hopeful dreams of “Change” have turned into nightmares. It’s times like these that may cause even the most stoic saint to fret, fear and flee.

The deception may be that we begin believing that we alone suffer such trials and tribulations. Or that God has forgotten, forsaken or abandoned us. Perhaps we even go so far as to imagine that God is working against us…deliberating targeting us with evil intent and destructive devices. It is a deceptive trap to focus on Circumstances…and abandon God’s revealed Truth. It’s times like these that we must hold on fast to the anchor of our soul, Jesus Christ…and instead leave the wreckage of broken philosophies of man, dreams of self-fulfillment and hopes of a little “heaven on earth.” The latest versions of self-help, self-made (and selfish) destiny teachings will still neither satisfy nor save us. The pulpit pundits of prosperity, promotion and breakthrough will not pull you alive out of the rubble. Rather, they will feed on your fears, decimate your (biblical) doctrine and keep your eyes fixed upon your Circumstances. Not so with Pastor Shadrack…or the dear saints from Pipeline.

Pastor Shadrack called me that Sunday to say, “Please thank God along with us today!” He then explained to me what had happened at the new church during their inaugural service. “Not a single person was hurt. We had men, women and children buried under the roof. It collapsed so fast that not a single person had warning. No other building in the area was touched. Not one! Just the church. And just as we were closing Worship.” He continued, “Look at what happened to the plastic chairs…and you’ll wonder how people who were sitting in them were not killed, or seriously injured.” I was shocked and stunned to say the least. I knew at least part

of the story of this precious congregation. In one moment, it was all swept away…AGAIN!

I then asked Pastor Shadrack the logical question, “What did you do?!” And received the most illogical response, which I will never forget. He said, “We pulled everyone out, and decided to continue the Worship!”

Beloved, God has a Word for us in times this these…

Now is not the time to pull back, but rather to press into God.

“Beloved, do not think it strangeconcerning the fiery trial

which is to try you,as though some strange thing

happened to you.But Rejoice to the extent

that you partake of Christ’s sufferings,that when His glory is revealed,

you may also be Gladwith exceeding Joy.”

1 Peter 4.12

It’s not a time to hold onto, nor to attempt to rebuild, the old structures and settlements of our earlier life…it’s time to move on to what He has ahead for us. Things might be smaller, further, older or weaker. It’s in these Helpless Moments that God graciously ensures we have no opportunity to be a Martha…just His privilege to sit and worship like Mary.

The saints in the Pipeline church realized that God doesn’t want us to be useful…rather He wants us to be His. Beholden to Him, not mere Circumstances. God can and will glorify Himself anywhere, anytime, any way…if we will only allow Him to have His way.

He doesn’t bless Effort…He blesses Obedience

…especially in our Helpless Moments.

There are m o m e n t s when it all

seems to Collapse. This was the day. Pastor Shadrack and his church had moved to their third location in just four

years. Even in the midst of a massive city like Nairobi, they seemingly could not find even a tiny corner of rest. Just a few years

back, their church was located in the “Pipeline” slum of East Nairobi. It was not a preferred location by any human standard,

but it was where God’s work was called to be done. The church in Pipeline lay directly on the easement for the city’s main underground

gas line. Soon after the church made the final payment on the plot of land, the government ordered everyone to vacate the pipeline’s “right of way”. It

had taken years of meagre, but faithful, tithes and offerings to “purchase” the land and build the church structure. It was all swept away in one moment. We had taught several Pastors’

Bible Seminars at the church, and found the sudden situation equally distressing and discouraging.

Pastor Shadrack and the congregation did what few others willingly did. They moved within the government mandated three months. They took down the timbers and rusted sheet metal, and moved on. The new location was, of course, infinitely more expensive due to sudden surge in demand, and shortage of supply, for land within the slum. God graciously planted them on the main road at the edge of Pipeline. More people became aware of the ministry, and the congregation

grew. The pruning had yielded

great fruit. God’s hand was evident in other ways as well: a few months later the Pipeline slum literally exploded due to a fuel leak. A fireball swept through the slum and 213 people were instantly incinerated…including several pastors who had refused to move.

The “church on the main road” quickly became home for more and more saints from the slum areas, as well as a new location for some of our Bible Seminars. Pastor Shadrack’s expository Bible teaching became even more widely known and appreciated than in Pipeline. When I visited the church last year, I was pleased to see everyone coming with their Bible, notebook and pen in hand. It wasn’t a show to impress me, as my arrival was unexpected. It was genuine. The church was settled once again, and prospering in all the right ways. The cost had been great, but the fruit even greater. But it’s when “all the cylinders are firing again” that we can quickly forsake our reliance upon the Lord. God brings those Moments of Helplessness to help us, not hurt us. Unknowingly, it became time for another helping.

This January another mandate came from the government. The road would be widened to make way for a super highway to the city’s airport. Affluent car owners were tired of the painfully slow trip through downtown. Time to forge a more “modern” path…albeit directly through an area inhabited by millions of slum dwellers in rusty tin shacks. And so Pastor Shadrack and his congregation moved on once again. Rather than fight and fret, they prayed and went on with their pilgrimage. Ending up in another “more expensive due to the circumstances” place than before. The land rent was substantially higher, as they were squeezing into a more developed area of stone-built structures. Although still a poor area, the use of their rusted sheet metal was forbidden. The only place that had “room for them” was an abandoned

“building” consisting of

four walls. No doors, no windows, no floor…and no roof. In the final analysis, they had lost everything from their prior church, except their plastic chairs…and their Faith in God.

It was a heroic act of Faith to put up the roof. Church members sacrificially gave of their time, tithes and talents. The doors and windows would have to wait. It was a glorious and sunny Sabbath day that they met to give thanks for their new church home. Seasoned saints from even before the “Pipeline” church were present and faithfully attending. The church choir led the congregation in Praise and Worship. God’s holy and helping hand had delivered them once again. Never again would they doubt Him because of mere Circumstances, obstacles or “setbacks.” After all, hadn’t He seen them through “once again”?

As the Worship was coming to a close, and Pastor Shadrack was approaching the pulpit, the climax came. But not in the way one might expect. On an otherwise calm, bright and cloudless morning, a sudden and inexplicable whirlwind ripped the new roof off and sent it crashing down on the congregation! No signal or sign, no warning, no time for any “made for Hollywood” escapes. Instantly, the majority of the congregation was buried beneath broken timbers and twisted, sharp metal roofing sheets. It was, indeed, another Helpless Moment.

There are moments for all of us when it all seems to Collapse: relationships we hold dear, principles by which we live, bulwarks of security we have built, purposes for which we have learned and labored. Years, perhaps even lifetimes, of persevering Effort can be swept away in a single moment. Many are experiencing this in very personal, profound and unanticipated ways in the past few years. Retirement plans have been decimated. Homes have gone into bankruptcy. Marriages are strained,

finances have been drained…and hopeful dreams of “Change” have turned into nightmares. It’s times like these that may cause even the most stoic saint to fret, fear and flee.

The deception may be that we begin believing that we alone suffer such trials and tribulations. Or that God has forgotten, forsaken or abandoned us. Perhaps we even go so far as to imagine that God is working against us…deliberating targeting us with evil intent and destructive devices. It is a deceptive trap to focus on Circumstances…and abandon God’s revealed Truth. It’s times like these that we must hold on fast to the anchor of our soul, Jesus Christ…and instead leave the wreckage of broken philosophies of man, dreams of self-fulfillment and hopes of a little “heaven on earth.” The latest versions of self-help, self-made (and selfish) destiny teachings will still neither satisfy nor save us. The pulpit pundits of prosperity, promotion and breakthrough will not pull you alive out of the rubble. Rather, they will feed on your fears, decimate your (biblical) doctrine and keep your eyes fixed upon your Circumstances. Not so with Pastor Shadrack…or the dear saints from Pipeline.

Pastor Shadrack called me that Sunday to say, “Please thank God along with us today!” He then explained to me what had happened at the new church during their inaugural service. “Not a single person was hurt. We had men, women and children buried under the roof. It collapsed so fast that not a single person had warning. No other building in the area was touched. Not one! Just the church. And just as we were closing Worship.” He continued, “Look at what happened to the plastic chairs…and you’ll wonder how people who were sitting in them were not killed, or seriously injured.” I was shocked and stunned to say the least. I knew at least part

of the story of this precious congregation. In one moment, it was all swept away…AGAIN!

I then asked Pastor Shadrack the logical question, “What did you do?!” And received the most illogical response, which I will never forget. He said, “We pulled everyone out, and decided to continue the Worship!”

Beloved, God has a Word for us in times this these…

Now is not the time to pull back, but rather to press into God.

“Beloved, do not think it strangeconcerning the fiery trial

which is to try you,as though some strange thing

happened to you.But Rejoice to the extent

that you partake of Christ’s sufferings,that when His glory is revealed,

you may also be Gladwith exceeding Joy.”

1 Peter 4.12

It’s not a time to hold onto, nor to attempt to rebuild, the old structures and settlements of our earlier life…it’s time to move on to what He has ahead for us. Things might be smaller, further, older or weaker. It’s in these Helpless Moments that God graciously ensures we have no opportunity to be a Martha…just His privilege to sit and worship like Mary.

The saints in the Pipeline church realized that God doesn’t want us to be useful…rather He wants us to be His. Beholden to Him, not mere Circumstances. God can and will glorify Himself anywhere, anytime, any way…if we will only allow Him to have His way.

He doesn’t bless Effort…He blesses Obedience

…especially in our Helpless Moments.

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Contact Paul & Marcia CowleyEmail:paul@disciplesupport.org marcia@disciplesupport.orgPhone from USA 011-254-733-609-066Skype: marcia.cowley

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Contact DSM in AmericaDisciple Support MinistriesPhone: 561-901-3590

Send Contributions ToDisciple Support MinistriesP.O. Box 3982Panama City, FL 32401

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