A Deserted Dirt Road Down South

Acts 8:26 – “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.”

Before we can appreciate what is going on here, we need a little summary of what Philip had recently been through before the Angel of the Lord commanded him to go down a deserted road in the middle of nowhere.

1. In Acts 6:5, Philip was one of the seven hand-picked, newly ordained Deacons.

2. In Acts 8:5- “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.”

3. Acts 8:6, 7 – “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed”

4. Acts 8:8 – There was great joy in the entire city because of Philip’s teaching.

5. Acts 8:9-13 – Philip’s preaching converted a sorcerer named Simon that had bewitched the people in Samaria for a long while.

Now after all of this amazingly fruitful preaching to a city like Samaria, and all of the signs and wonders God wrought at the hand of Philip, the Angel of the Lord tells Philip to leave all of that ‘success’ in the big time and go down to a deserted highway in the middle of nowhere…and did not even tell him why!!!

I wonder how many modern-day mega-preachers, evangelists or ministers would have been insulted to have such a 'menial task' assigned to them. Can’t you just hear the egos now? Don’t you know what ‘I’ have done? Have you seen ‘my’ Resume? I don’t preach to less than 20,000…it won’t even cover the cost of fuel in my jet.

Even though I am no meg-preacher, I fell victim to this sin. While preaching in the streets and various venues on my first trip to Malawi, we always had crowds in the hundreds for two solid weeks in Africa. Well, the last stop on our final day of preaching was to test me. It was supposed to be a large gathering at a church that took us 1 ½ hours to walk to in the middle of the African summer day. It was in the middle of nowhere down a deserted dirt road. As the Lord would have it, I had read the above chapter in Acts the night before, although I had not yet applied it.

When we reached the church, there were 10 people in the church, and the group I walked with accounted for 4. Of the other 6, 5 were men and there was 1 lady. I think my disappointment showed plainly…as well as my pride.

While they were singing a few African hymns, I quietly bowed my head and was wondering, not really praying, but wondering why God had brought me such a long arduous journey for just those few people. It was then the story of Philip popped into my heart and mind. Philip was obedient, and not prideful. He did as he was told with gladness of heart and looked for opportunities wherever the Lord sent him.

That day on that desert road, he met an Ethiopian Eunuch that was seeking God, but was not understanding. Philip joined himself with the Ethiopian, a Royal delegate, and taught him the Gospel. The man was converted and Philip was gone again. Who knows how mightily God used that one Ethiopian that had the Queen’s ear to reach his country and beyond with the Gospel.

So as God gave me that image, I repented of my attitude and pride and asked God to show me why I was there and use me. The message I had prepared, the Lord threw out and gave me another. It was a challenge on seeking the teaching gifts and not sign gifts. When the Lord was done that day, all 5 men stood up and came forward simultaneously and answered the call into full-time ministry. Praise the Lord for the Living Word! Such is the work of the Lord. It is about obediently walking after the Spirit of God and not the flesh. Who is waiting for you on a dirt road down south?

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