DAY 3 - Obedience Without the Map
DAY 3 - Obedience Without the Map
Read slowly. Acts 8:4 through 8 and Acts 8:26 through 40
Philip was part of something remarkable in Samaria. Crowds were listening. People were being healed. There was great joy in the city. If Philip had been making a strategic plan, he probably would have stayed where everything was working.
Then an angel of the Lord tells him to go south to the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. The instruction is strangely incomplete. Philip is given a direction, not an explanation. He is told where to go, but not who he will meet or what will happen when he arrives. Acts says, So he started out.
Only after Philip reaches the road does the Spirit tell him to go near the Ethiopian official's chariot. Only after he approaches does he hear the man reading Isaiah. Only after Philip asks a question does the next part of the assignment become clear. Direction comes while Philip is moving.
We want God to explain the road, the person, the conversation, the cost, and the result before we leave Samaria. But God often gives enough light for the next step. The rest becomes clear in motion.
That does not mean every impulse in your mind is a command from God. Followers of Jesus test what they sense. Does it agree with Scripture? Does it look like the character of Jesus? Can mature believers confirm that it is wise and faithful? Is it loving, honest, and holy? Faith is not recklessness. But discernment can also become a hiding place when God has already made something clear.
You may not know how the conversation will go. You may not know whether the invitation will be accepted, whether the ministry will grow, or whether the change will work. Philip did not know any of that when he started toward the road. He knew enough to take the next step.
God's silence about step five is not permission to ignore step one.
Ask yourself
Your Next Yes
Make two short statements in writing. First, God has already made this clear. Second, my next faithful step is. Share those statements with one trusted believer today and ask that person to pray for you and hold you accountable.
Pray
Holy Spirit, make me attentive to your direction and grounded in your Word. Keep me from confusing impulse with faith, and keep me from using discernment as an excuse to delay. Give me enough light for the next step and enough trust to take it. Put me where I can join what you are already doing. Amen.
Read slowly. Acts 8:4 through 8 and Acts 8:26 through 40
Philip was part of something remarkable in Samaria. Crowds were listening. People were being healed. There was great joy in the city. If Philip had been making a strategic plan, he probably would have stayed where everything was working.
Then an angel of the Lord tells him to go south to the desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza. The instruction is strangely incomplete. Philip is given a direction, not an explanation. He is told where to go, but not who he will meet or what will happen when he arrives. Acts says, So he started out.
Only after Philip reaches the road does the Spirit tell him to go near the Ethiopian official's chariot. Only after he approaches does he hear the man reading Isaiah. Only after Philip asks a question does the next part of the assignment become clear. Direction comes while Philip is moving.
We want God to explain the road, the person, the conversation, the cost, and the result before we leave Samaria. But God often gives enough light for the next step. The rest becomes clear in motion.
That does not mean every impulse in your mind is a command from God. Followers of Jesus test what they sense. Does it agree with Scripture? Does it look like the character of Jesus? Can mature believers confirm that it is wise and faithful? Is it loving, honest, and holy? Faith is not recklessness. But discernment can also become a hiding place when God has already made something clear.
You may not know how the conversation will go. You may not know whether the invitation will be accepted, whether the ministry will grow, or whether the change will work. Philip did not know any of that when he started toward the road. He knew enough to take the next step.
God's silence about step five is not permission to ignore step one.
Ask yourself
- What has God already made clear through Scripture that I keep treating as an unanswered question?
- Am I asking for more information because I want wisdom or because I want control?
- What successful, familiar, or comfortable place might God be asking me to hold loosely?
- Who is a mature believer I can invite into this discernment?
Your Next Yes
Make two short statements in writing. First, God has already made this clear. Second, my next faithful step is. Share those statements with one trusted believer today and ask that person to pray for you and hold you accountable.
Pray
Holy Spirit, make me attentive to your direction and grounded in your Word. Keep me from confusing impulse with faith, and keep me from using discernment as an excuse to delay. Give me enough light for the next step and enough trust to take it. Put me where I can join what you are already doing. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotional