March 6-13 --I was sick- cough, stuffiness, little sleep, etc. Maybe an excuse to take time off from the blog and Bible study. (Not a good excuse, still . . .) Since the 13th however, no excuse. I had just gotten out of the habit and allowed the snooze button to replace quiet time.
Did anything cataclysmic happen? No. Did a tree fall on our house? Not yet. Did I feel distance from God? Yes. Was there a feeling of disquietude? Yes.
Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." This verse if from the story in Acts where Philip had started a great revival in Samaria. (Is it a revival if it is the first time for the Gospel?) An angel and the Holy Spirit worked in concert to get Philip in a position to witness to an important government official from Ethiopia. The result was the baptism of that person by Philip.
There are two take-aways from this story. The first being Philip's immediate obedience. Here we had Philip who had started a great awakening in a major city. He was performing miracles, leading people to God, baptizing new converts. What glorious and heady time. Then God instructed Philip to head out to a dusty, dirty desert road. We are told in Acts, "So he started out. . ." (Acts 8:27) No hedging. No "yeah, buts". Just obedience.
I realize that being asked to head out to a certain street or road it not as life-changing as go to Nineveh, or going to war against the Midianites, but still it was a disruption to and a change in Philip's routine.
I wonder how many witnessing opportunities I have missed because the "unsettled" feeling in my gut I have passed off to indigestion or thought about it long enough that the opportunity passed by. If Philip had told God, "Well, let me pray about it a day or two, the Ethiopian would have been long gone and along with him the opportunity for Philip to help spread the Gospel to another country.
Second, I am struck with just how close Philip's daily walk with God must have been in order for his spiritual antennae to be so in tune to pick up on such a "minor" message as "go south to to road- - the desert road. . ."
A dear lady I know recently was told to "go south to the road" in a sense by striking up a conversation with two other ladies in a fast-food restaurant. That "random" conversation let to the establishment of a beachhead for a ministry that will touch an untold number of people.
A close, daily walk with God can give us the confidence to act immediately when the Holy Spirit tells us to go to the desert roads. Pray without ceasing and act without hesitation. Two keys for missions.
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