City Life Starter

Written by Aisha Darwesh

The Word

²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.  –Acts 8:26-31 (ESV)

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
⁶ As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion. –Psalm 84:5-7 (ESV)

Aisha’s Analysis

Today’s passage from Acts shows the intentionality of God and His willingness to meet those who are seeking Him right where they are. Phillip’s willingness to obey the Lord and leave Samaria when things were seemingly going well and go to a desert place with no reason from God shows us that being flexible to move where God leads us without necessarily knowing all the information can bring about beautiful beginnings. Finally, the Ethiopian eunuch’s desire to seek God and humility to listen to others show us that God responds to our faith in Him and shows up in the most unexpected of ways when we seek Him with all our hearts and humble ourselves to receive His guidance. 

Let’s focus on the flexibility of Phillip. At the time Phillip received the command to go down from Jerusalem to Gaza, things were going well for his ministry and the spread of the gospel. He was preaching the gospel to the villages in the surrounding area (Acts 8:25).

That God would ask him to leave to go to a desert place in the middle of nowhere would appear to be an odd request and likely took a bit of faith and flexibility for Phillip to immediately obey. Nonetheless, he rose and went (Acts 8:27). 

What’s more, Phillip stayed open to the Holy Spirit and ran to meet the eunuch at the Spirit’s prompting. He did not miss his moment, and as a result the Ethiopian eunuch (a gentile who was genuinely seeking to worship God) came to faith! The eunuch’s reading of the prophet Isaiah which delves into the suffering that Jesus had to endure was the perfect way for Phillip to present the gospel to him and introduce him to Jesus, our Savior who suffered the cross. 

This was undeniably God’s handiwork, which leads one to wonder what if Phillip had ignored God’s request? What if he justified to himself that it was better to stay where he was than to go to a desert place with no assurance of what would happen there? The story would be vastly different for all involved. This shows us that being flexible enough to move at a moment’s notice without any reason or additional information is what following God in faith is all about. Fortunately, for all of us, Phillip obeyed God’s Spirit and God’s plan was fulfilled. 

Application

How many of us would be willing to do what Phillip did? If God asked you to go somewhere without giving you a reason, would you even be able to? I personally am a pathological planner, which often leaves room for little else when it comes to doing things on the fly. But following God sometimes means letting go of your own plans, so that His perfect plan can be fulfilled. 

As a practical way to see where your time is being spent, do a time audit of your week. Carefully evaluate your calendar and ask yourself, do the things I have on my schedule align with my values? If they do, great. But if you are left wondering about it, take that as an opportunity to pray and ask the Lord what He thinks about it. Ask Him how you can make yourself available for His plans. 

Prayer

Father God, Phillip and the eunuch’s story remind me of who is actually writing my story. Lord, I trust You to write my story even if that means letting go of how I thought things were supposed to be. I invite You to wreck my plans so that Your perfect plan might be fulfilled in my life and in the lives of the people You bring me to. Lord, I pray I won’t miss my moment. I want to obey You all my life. In the matchless name of Jesus I pray, amen.