Follow the Spirit

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch... The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Acts 8:26-27, 29

Philip had just sparked a revival in Samaria that brought many Samaritans to Christ. In fact, verse 14 tells us that it was a significant enough revival for some of the apostles to come down from Jerusalem to check it out and take part in it. So, Philip has been doing a great work! And now, God tells him to take the road that leads to the desert?

Philip must have wondered why! Why would God ask him to do this? There were so many new converts in Samaria that needed to be discipled. Surely, Philip could be more useful there. This didn’t make any sense. Why would God send Philip away from the action to this deserted place?

We serve a God who works in mysterious and wonderful ways. What He leads you to do, won’t always make sense. Sometimes, obeying what you believe the Spirit is prompting you to do will make you feel downright foolish. Because it won’t make any sense to you. You won’t know why you are doing what you are doing. You will just know that you believe God wants you to do it.

Is that enough for you? Are you willing to take the next step that God is pointing out to you even if you can’t see where it leads or why God wants you to go that way? You’ll have to, if you are going to be used by God to go and tell others about Jesus.

You see God is at work in people’s hearts long before you ever get to have a conversation with them about Jesus. And only He knows who is ready to hear from you. Sometimes, you won’t understand why God is asking you to do something. But, if you are willing to obey Him— even when it doesn’t make sense—then God can do things through you that are bigger than you are. 

If you are going to be used to lead people to Jesus, then you will have to listen and be willing to follow the promptings of the Spirit. To be an effective soul winner, you must be willing to step out in faith and obey the promptings of the Spirit even when they don’t make sense to you, even when you don’t know where they lead. Will you follow the Spirit?