ACTS 8:34-35

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself, or someone else? Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

TO PONDER

This is another Bible story that set my childhood imagine busy. I considered Philip a very obedient man, or perhaps, like me, he didn’t want to cause as fuss as I learnt was best when mother took me from ‘a really important daydream’ to do something she wanted done.                                               

God had a task for Philip but first he had to change direction; he must have recognised that the angel was God’s messenger and took the possibly harder and lonely desert road. When the carriage with the important Ethiopian appeared, Philip again obeyed and approached knowing, because the Holy Spirit had told him, that the Ethiopian was reading from the book of Isaiah. I used to think the carriage must have been travelling slowly so to make it easier for the Ethiopian to read and so allowed Philip to catch up and ask what he was reading which gave the Ethiopian the chance to ask the question that led to Philip sharing the good news of Jesus. I recognised that this meeting was no accident and it had to be planned and only God could do that.                                                                                   

I see it today as a lesson for us, we don’t know God’s plans, or if we feel something is from God we're not always brave enough to follow his prompting. We can easily find reasons enough not to follow through, forgetting God is walking with us and knows our feeble excuses. One of the most used one is, ‘What if a Bible verse is quoted and I don’t know it?”  Philip knew the eunuch was reading from Isaiah but didn’t talk about that, instead he spoke of the good news of Jesus that Isaiah was pointing to.                                   

We should listen carefully when people ask questions about God’s word, we might not be able to cite the chapter and verses being quoted or find another one to provide a suitable response, but there might be a clue that gives us opportunity to speak of the work of God in our lives, or to recall other stories of God that illustrates our explanation. When we find ourselves being asked questions about our faith, we can be sure God wants us to speak to that person or situation. He has set the stage, He has cast you in that moment as his lead actor. He will send us the prompts and be beside us, we just need to recognise and trust God’s call and be brave and courageous and step out in faith. 

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I know that you want me to help spread your word so that the whole world learns about your love and saving grace. You send people into my life that I might tell them the good news of Jesus. Forgive me when I don’t recognise this, or, when I fear getting it wrong or think myself inadequate for the task. Remind me that you are on the journey beside me. Please give me the strength to speak and act boldly and answer questions when asked.  Amen

Today's devotion written by Maureen Macpherson, LifeWay Newcastle