“The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and walk along beside the carriage.’ Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ The man replied, ‘How can I, unless someone instructs me?’ And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.” — Acts 8:29-31 (NLT)
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In Acts 8, we see an angel give Philip instructions to start down a desert road. That’s it. Those were the instructions.
As he went down the road, he ran into the treasurer of Ethiopia who was headed back after visiting Jerusalem to worship. “Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and walk along beside the carriage.’ Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ The man replied, ‘How can I, unless someone instructs me?’ And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him” (vv. 28-31, NLT).
Philip listens to a word from God and it prompts him to obey. Philip is given the undetailed task of simply starting down the road, and he blindly goes without knowing what he is supposed to do when he gets there. He had no idea that God was orchestrating a divine appointment, a planned situation to provide for another person in the right moment at the right time.
What can we learn from Philip? First, we must listen. Then we must be willing. Then we must be willing to go, even without details. And lastly, we must be willing to be used when we get there.
Our obedience is not about us. There is always a primary blessing and secondary blessing when we obey. Primary: the person we have been sent to receives what they have been looking for. Secondary: we receive for being obedient and following through.
— Fleceia Comeaux, Houston Dash chaplain
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