Worth Repeating - December 3, 2017

Acts 8: 27-40 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road . . . that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” . . . on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch . . . This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah . . . The Spirit told Philip, “Go to the chariot . . .” . . . Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. . . .  (NIV)

(Read the entire passage.)

What seems right and reasonable to human beings is often totally out of harmony with God’s ways. We must learn to trust the wisdom of God, even when it seems to go against all that seems wise or best to us.*

Several years ago, a young woman shared her amazing testimony with me. She and her husband (and children) were living in New York when they – through some circumstances that I don’t recall – felt called to a ministry in Texas, down on the border with Mexico. There were many obstacles in their path but they were removed, one by one, in such a way that it could only have been by the hand of God.  It wasn’t long after their arrival in Texas that doors began to close and they had to abandon the mission – but not before ministering to and baptizing one woman.

Would God really call a family to relocate across the country just for the sake of that one woman? Couldn’t he have sent someone else? We could ask the same question about Philip’s experience. God called him away from a successful ministry in Samaria to preach to one man. Couldn’t he have sent someone else?

God’s ways don’t always make sense to us but we can be confident that he knows what he is doing. We have our own ideas about effective evangelism and they may be good ones . . . until God has a better one. We think we have to establish a relationship with a person before they will listen to a gospel presentation – and most often that is true. We believe that they have to witness our genuine Christian character before they will be interested in what we have to say. And usually that is the case. But sometimes, the seeds have already been planted and God just needs us to come along and reap the harvest for him.

When God is lining up the laborers for work in his fields, he knows who is best qualified for each task. Moving families across the country is a piece of cake for the Creator of the universe. My friend had no resentment and no regrets for the upheaval in her family’s life. Philip made no complaints about abandoning his crowds in order to meet the needs of one lost soul. When you go where God calls, you can’t not be blessed by it!

Ready for adventure? Say yes!

All of us are called to service. There are no exceptions. But a specific call . . . can vary in intensity, in responsibility, and in term. Sometimes a specific call lasts a lifetime. Sometimes a specific call lasts for a season.*