Nature has many beautiful things to offer us and on any day many would choose the lush flowery gardens and landscapes to a dry, isolated and deserted area. While there may be some sort of ecological beauty in the latter region, we will need proximity and insight to draw these out. Thankfully, in our day, we have seen the stunning beauty that have sprung from desert regions through ingenuity and wealth, take Middle Eastern regions like the Arab Emirates. But, in Philip's day, when he received this instruction to go along a road in the south, this desert was really isolated, lifeless and without beauty.
In this journey of life, we may reach phases where we are led along or instructed to go down desert roads. It can be very challenging to accept, let alone follow, these paths as we tend to be driven by what we see. Nothing happens in the desert so why venture this road. What good can possibly come out of the desert. This is how some seasons of our lives appear to be. At times, it is difficult to see that God is even working in our lives because when we observe the pleasant and glorious things happening for people around us, nothing good seems to be going on or coming out of ours.
When the revelation in our anchor text first came to me, I was on a similar long fast with a prayer partner. That day, I led our time of fellowship but I had not prepared for what unfolded. As we started thanking God, I had a mental image of Philip running after the Ethiopian finance minister so I quickly opened my Bible to Acts 8. Then a word stood out to me - the desert. So I started preaching an entire message, which happens to be the import of today's bulletin, around this text. Honestly, I didn’t know where the message was leading but I just spoke as I felt led to, in obedience to the Lord. I could sense my partner on the other end of the line was amazed about what I was sharing. Apparently, the Lord was leading him from a vibrant thriving church to one that didn't even have a complete physical structure.
The interior was not even cemented, the floors just had ordinary sand - it appeared like the sands of the desert. What will make someone take such a step? He hadn't planned to share this instruction from God yet but there I was talking about what God was asking him to do. Probably, as a person who believes in keeping good relationships, I would have talked him out of this move. Moreover, his current church was a very good place he had developed in and served well so there was no rational reason to leave. But considering the Word God had given us that day, my response was that he should pray about it because I knew he had a good rapport with his senior pastor. He did pray, and amazingly when he discussed his senior pastor, he graciously released him into the assignment God was asking him to take up.
Which desert is God leading you to? Maybe a different church, company, industry, people, country or assignment? Is it that this new place or assignment doesn’t look promising in anyway way? Perhaps, you are thinking of all the things from your previous or current experiences you are going to miss in this next place. You are not alone. This was the situation Philip found himself in. He was not led to a rich environment where one will be motivated by the good things in sight. He was being led into a desert. That should have been the first turn-off for someone who had experienced some great things in his life. However, he hopped on gladly.
When Philip received this instruction from the angel, the city of Samaria where he had sent the Gospel was experiencing a great revival. The people were eagerly receiving Jesus and signs and wonders were abundant. This move of God was so great that Apostles Peter and John had been dispatched from the headquarters, Jerusalem, to witness and bless the work of God over there. The mission work here was very promising and the number of followers were increasing. So how could God possibly be directing him now into a lifeless desolate place?
Leaving familiar terrains of abundance into an unknown terrain is doubtless a difficult thing. Remember Lot’s wife who couldn’t come to terms with all she was leaving behind in Sodom when the angels instructed them to leave. But, like Philip, we have to understand that our lives are not our own. God can call us out of the very things he's blessing to pursue His purposes elsewhere. When He does, we must not allow the voices of people or the pleasures of our success hinder us from submitting.
God had another assignment to birth in another region for which he needed a vessel. The Ethiopian eunuch who was a Judaic convert needed a revelation of Jesus to send into his part of the world. How could he hear unless someone was sent? Thank God Philip obeyed, not considering the losses or the risks he could face being alone in the desert.
29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” 30 Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. ... 35 So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. 36 As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” 38 He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
Acts 8:29-31 & 35-38, NLT
The guards travelling with this prominent eunuch could have attacked or resisted him. The eunuch himself could disregard him. But because Philip obeyed the leading to join that chariot, he unearthed a huge treasure in the desert. This affluent man believed in Jesus and got baptized right in the desert when they surprisingly came across some water. He then became a pioneer sending the Good News of Jesus to Ethiopia and surrounding regions. Beloved, you may not fully understand God's intent for directing you out of certain places or into other unlikely places. But if only you would trust Him, you will experience wonders in the desert and save yourself some unforeseen perils.
There was nothing wrong in Samaria where Philip was but studying Acts 8, I see the possibility that God didn’t want Philip to become a snare for these people. In Acts 8:9-11 (NLT), we read that, “A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.” Could it be that the people who were now experiencing an authentic demonstration of power could idolize Philip like they did with Simon, the sorcerer, if he had lingered in that area?
Many of us are so concerned about what others think of us that in a bid to please people we may not risk taking a step for God. If we want to see the hand of the Lord in this season, we should be willing to step into the desert. Yes, it is uncommon to find water in the desert, but when God leads you to the desert He is able to make all things happen for you in that place. In Isaiah 43:19 the Lord says, “ I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and open up flowing streams in the desert.” We serve a God who puts treasures in the desert. Trust Him.