Listen

An angel from the Lord spoke to Philip, “At noon, take the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) So he did. Meanwhile, an Ethiopian man was on his way home from Jerusalem, where he had come to worship. He was a eunuch and an official responsible for the entire treasury of Candace. (Candace is the title given to the Ethiopian queen.) He was reading the prophet Isaiah while sitting in his carriage. The Spirit told Philip, “Approach this carriage and stay with it.”

Acts 8:26-29

Think

Have you ever been in an awkward situation? Maybe you were in a strange place or with people you didn’t know and had to strike up a conversation. Or perhaps you were somewhere that the language or customs were unfamiliar, and you felt unsure of the appropriate thing to do or say.

Do you think Philip felt awkward about the situation in which he found himself? God told him to go down a dangerous wilderness road to encounter a person from another culture and a country far away, and a powerful and influential person at that! Philip had no idea what he was being sent to do, but God said, “Go,” and the story in Acts tells us that Philip got up and went. He trusted God fully and followed God’s call. Are we willing to do the same?

Elizabeth Jones Edwards

Pray

Holy God, give me ears to listen for your call and courage to follow. When the way is uncertain, guide me, and when I feel weak, make me strong. Amen.

Go

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

From “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” by Isaac Watts