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In acts 8:26-40 (http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresults.php?passage1=Acts+8%3A26-40&passage2=&passage3=&passage4=&passage5=&version1=47&version2=0&version3=0&version4=0&version5=0&Submit.x=35&Submit.y=4) we see a story of a regular man, who got a prompting from God to go.  But to go where?  To do what?  In the previous part of the story, Philip was part of a mass revival in Samaria, but now God wants him to get up and leave that, to travel some obscure desert road for some unknown reason.  He had to face a decision, to leave what was happening in Samaria, to disciple the new followers of ‘the way’, or to listen to this prompting and obey.

I must wonder about this road a bit.  I wonder what Philip thought about it.  It was a desert road, like in Robert Frost’s words, a road less traveled.  Did he contemplate his safety?  Did he sit and pray to double check that this was God’s will for His life?  We don’t see any of that.  What we get is that he got up and went, without knowing the final destination or the reason for going.  All he knew, was go!  He went.

You got to understand that for Philip, he had no idea why he was to go or what was going to happen.  But as he went, God had a divine appointment set up.  Two different lives, two different stories, collide.

In the distance Philip sees a caravan that screams royalty.  Philip was a poor meager Jew, this was royalty.  But the eunuch, from what we are told, is coming back from Jerusalem, with what I guess was an unsuccessful journey.  He traveled from Africa, left the courts of the queen, to seek out some answers about some internal longings he has had about God.  As he arrived in Jerusalem, I speculate that the Jews wanted nothing to do with him because he was undefiled (eunuch=lack of masculinity…).  So sure he went to the temple to worship, but one must wonder, with the strict Jewish order if he was even allowed to.  What we see, which is most important, is that God was seeking this man out and that this man is eager to know who God is.

As Philip saw the chariots and what not, he got another prompting, go to that chariot and walk by it.  Ok, sounds easy enough.  By contextualize this…it would be like walking along next to the vice president of sorts, or maybe people in the president’s cabinet.  What did Philip not do?  He didn’t contemplate what to do.  He didn’t pray over it, was again musing if it is God’s will.  No!  He just ran up to the chariot.  I mean he ran.  What would happen if someone today would go running up to the president, or some other high official?  He would get taken down!  I love it.  It is dangerous!

As the story unfolds, Philip realizes that God has been working on this man, and the next thing you know, he comes to know Jesus as the Messiah and wants to get baptized immediately! 

Let me ask you a question.  What do you do with those types of promptings?  Are you more afraid of missing divine opportunities or making the wrong decisions?

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