Acts 8:29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
30. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31. And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
Over the next few days we are going to dissect these three verses individually, but for the sake of context we listed them all today. By way of review, Philip was preaching a football stadium sized revival. Amidst this fantastic move of God, Philip is ordered into a desert place. Philip obeyed immediately with no record of question. A rich and powerful man is in route from Jerusalem where he has been searching out "worship." We now find ourselves in verse 29 of Acts cxhapter 8.
A cloud of dust fills the air as a racing chariot carrying this dignitary drives on. Context suggests that Philip is now standing still and the chariot enters his view. The Spirit says "Go near and join yourself to this chariot." If I were in Philip's shoes, I would be looking for MY chariot to appear right about now. My lesser faith would say, "Lord....you've got to be kidding.....that chariot is being pulled by some pretty fast horses!! How in the world???" Seriously, imagine standing alongside the interstate as a corvette enters your peripheral. You are instructed to go "join" yourself to this car. Does that put this in context for you?
Philip, however takes off running. For some reason I had always pictured him sprinting and jumping onto the chariot in superman fashion and leading this guy to Jesus; As I began to read, I saw something very different. It is not until verse 31 that the Ethiopian man invites him on board the vehicle. Philip is literally racing while reaching this man. The Holy Spirit adrenaline pumping through his very soul equipped him for the task at hand: Matching pace with a moving chariot, and with breath enough to speak, engaging this man.
Social networking, technological evolution, efficient vehicles, and demanding schedules keep our world moving at 100 mph each moment of the day. With laptops, tablets, and cell phones in hand, taking a moment to genuinely relax from the trends and tragedy of today is far from the normal. This fast-paced chariot culture, pulled by the horses of economy makes reaching even our next door neighbor seem impossible, but if a Spirit directed individual can match pace with a horse-drawn chariot, surly that same Spirit can perfectly align my steps in opportunity to evangelize.
Will we watch as opportunity after opportunity race by, or will we take off running claiming His promises and provision? Evangelism does not always equal the football stadium revival, and will not always seek us out within the comfort zone of our church-house walls. Opportunity does exist. It is only a matter of chasing after it.
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