On a Road Through the Wilderness

God told Philip to leave a thriving ministry.

Philip was having a productive ministry in Samaria. As he preached, people were coming to know Jesus. Signs and wonders were happening. He was probably excited to see how God was using him there.

Then he was interrupted by a visit from an angel who told him that God wanted him to go far away to a road in the wilderness. This road from Gaza to Jerusalem was likely not a pleasant place to walk.

Philip didn’t question, but obeyed.

But Philip wanted to be in the center of God’s will. He trusted that God had a reason, so he willingly left his comfortable place of ministry in Samaria to head off to the unknown. He didn’t really even know where he would end up. Only that he was supposed to walk on this desert road.

Most likely, he was hot and tired. By some estimates, he walked sixty or more miles. We don’t know how many days he walked. He saw no obvious reason, but he continued on, step by step.

Are you having a desert road experience?

Perhaps you have been taken from a productive and satisfying situation in life into what feels like a hot desert road. Perhaps some dreams have been shattered, or expectations have not been met. You may be asking God why you are in this position. It’s time to trust that God has a reason that you can’t see yet. Keep moving forward, in obedience to what He shows you to do. Consider what Philip did.

The experience gets harder as Philip nears the goal.

For Philip, walking was hard enough. But God was about to ask him to do something harder. Suddenly, he saw something in the distance. Maybe all he saw was a cloud of dust. But God told him to run to overtake a chariot. Even if he hadn’t been worn out from walking so far, he still would have wondered how to run so fast to catch up to a chariot pulled by horses! But he still obeyed. As he started running, something supernatural happened. The Bible does not explain how, but he was able to run fast enough to catch up!

When we keep stepping out to obey what God has shown us, and we have faith, God supernaturally steps in to help us do what He’s asked us to do. There is an old saying: “When God gives a vision, He gives provision.”

We may not know how we will accomplish what He has shown us, but we must trust that He will make a way for us.
(Like that chorus we sometimes sing, “God will make a way when there seems to be no way.”

God then revealed the purpose for all this…

When Philip reached the chariot, he could hear an important man who worked for the queen of Ethiopia reading Isaiah 53:8-9 from a scroll. This is a prophetic passage about how Jesus would be killed, taking our sins upon Himself. Suddenly, Philip must have known why God had brought him to this deserted place.

He asked the Ethiopian, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
The man answered, “No, I need someone to guide me.”

Philip offered to explain the prophecy. The man invited him to ride along in his chariot. I bet that was a relief to his tired feet!

Explaining the Isaiah passage to the Ethiopian, Philip told him the good news about Jesus Christ, who came to earth, lived a sinless life, and eventually died and rose again so that we could be forgiven from our sins.

How did the Ethiopian dignitary respond?

The Ethiopian immediately believed and put his faith in the Lord Jesus. They arrived at a desert oasis with a pool of water. He asked Philip to baptize him, which Philip did after affirming that the man had truly put his trust in Jesus.

Then Philip was instantly whisked away and, by the Holy Spirit, supernaturally deposited in a different land where cities needed to hear him preach about Jesus. I think God decided to give Philip’s feet a break by not having him walk to get to that area.

We don’t know what the Ethiopian thought when Philip disappeared. But we do know that, from the early days of Christianity, there have been Ethiopian followers of Jesus, and there still are today. We can assume that this important Ethiopian official shared the gospel as best as he could with others when he returned home.

In a sense, because Philip believed and obeyed God’s directions to him, he became a missionary to Ethiopia without ever going there in person!

So watch for the miracles God is going to do for you and through you! He may have let you go into the desert situation for a while, but He will use you as you trust and obey Him. He might have you there in order to help someone else. He will equip and enable you for the things to which He is calling you.

You can learn about him in the Book of Acts in the New Testament.