An Ethiopian Eunuch

So he [Philip] started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. Acts 8:27-28 (go to www.biblegateway.com to read the whole story.)

This is such an amazing story! God does some really cool stuff here. But what really grabbed my attention today is the phrase "Ethiopian Eunuch." It sounds funny and can you imagine putting that on your business card? Title: Ethiopian Eunuch. Ok, that aside, he was an important guy, apparently, in charge of a lot money, but not too full of himself to ask Philip to help him understand the scripture he was reading. And God gave Phillip a really nice opening to step into, since the scripture was one of the prophecies about Jesus.

Now, if Philip was a real do-it-yourself kind of guy who didn't pray and listen to the nudging of the Holy Spirit, he never would have been there to talk to this Ethiopian. He wouldn't have been on the road to Gaza in the first place. He might have been thinking, "I don't need to go to Gaza. Today I'm going to go hang out with Peter and the gang." But he didn't, so there he was in just the right place and time to introduce the Ethiopian to Jesus.

This Ethiopian is no slouch, either. I don't know much about eunuchs, but I can imagine he was free from some of the usual male distractions and I had always imagined that because of this that eunuchs were wimpy quiet slave types. Not this one, apparently. He doesn't mess around. He welcomes Christ into his life, gets filled with the Holy Spirit and wants to get baptized right there on the spot.

And then the Bible says that, "When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing." He went on his way rejoicing, not standing there trying to figure out where Philip went. Maybe sudden disappearance is a common occurrence? Not! God has touched his life, brought him salvation and he's rejoicing. Way to go!

As for Philip, he turns up in Azotus, quite far away from the road to Gaza. People talk about God moving on their lives, but this is really moving! One version says the Spirit "snatched" Philip away and that Philip "found himself" in Azotus. Can you imagine?

What would you do if you were Philip? I think a lot of us would be hustling to get back to where we were before we suddenly found ourselves in Azotus, to keep on doing what we were doing before we got interrupted. Not Philip. Got put him in Azotus, so he's preaching in Azotus and the surrounding cities, making the best of his new situation. He's going with the flow, going with the Spirit, following the call of God.

How awesome to have God move on you so dramatically! How amazing to have God work through you so powerfully! How exciting to let God take you wherever He wants whenever He wants! I'd like to think I'm open enough to the work of the Holy Spirit to do the same, but I still catch myself saying, "Not now, God." or "Not here, God." or "That's too scary, God." I pray that I can set those thoughts aside and be all the God needs me to be, whenever and wherever He needs me, and I pray you can do the same.