Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (Acts 8:26)
Our spiritual lives mirror the beginning of Philip’s remarkable experience in ministering to the Ethiopian eunuch. Before we can go out to speak God's truth, we must come to grips with our personal geography.
Philip was given specific directions: south to one particular road that led to one particular place. We are also called to individual places in our own lives of service. We might feel as though our roads are not exotic enough, that they are “desert” roads that lead away from Jerusalem rather than towards the excitement. But God has called us to those places intentionally.
When Philip obeyed God’s call to go down a particular dusty, desert road, he found someone he undoubtedly did not expect to see there, someone he would likely never have met otherwise. Again, we hear increasing details—an Ethiopian, a eunuch, an important official, in charge of the treasury, the treasury of the queen—as the passage draws itself tighter and tighter. Philip’s call was to this specific person, this specific role, and this specific patch of road.
Are we surprised that God, who has numbered the hairs on our heads, will set us carefully in certain geographical areas? For he is a God of all things—the God of major highways, and the God of dirt tracks through the wilderness.
Trust that God has placed you intentionally.
Amy Elliot lives with her family in Ontario, Canada. Her husband is ordained in The Wesleyan Church.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
