Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

This is the third installment in my series of posts on Jesus’ disciples

We don’t get very far in our Christian lives before we learn that God’s plans are not always our plans. The idea that we somehow know what is best for ourselves is a deceptively unrecognizable trap to fall into. We think that just because our plans are “good,” they must be in line with God’s perfect will. But as one disciple found, sometimes we are called from an apparently perfect situation into one which seems overwhelming or even pointless. These are the moments when we are tested: how much do we truly trust Christ? God only commands a change in our lives when that change will bring glory to Him and give growth to us.

In John 1:43-46, the apostle writes, “The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’” Philip wastes absolutely no time in accomplishing the mission of a follower of Christ. He was obeying the Great Commission before Jesus even formally gave it in Matthew 28. This disciple had a true understanding of the world’s spiritual starvation, inspiring in him the kind of urgency for the gospel every Christian should desire.

During the early days of the church, this gospel of Jesus Christ was exploding throughout the empire. Philip went to Samaria, where he proclaimed the word of God—the Lord was doing an amazing work. People were being healed, demons were being cast out, and the city was full of the joy of Christ. Everything seemed to be going just right, and it made perfect sense for Philip to be exactly where he was. That’s why the Lord’s next command is surprising: “But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, ‘Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a desert road)” (Acts 8:26). Why should Philip leave a spiritually thriving town to walk down an uninhabited road, a place where there might be no one to share the gospel with? Yet that is exactly what Philip does. Verses 27-29 continue, “So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’” This Ethiopian is searching desperately for an answer to his questions, and Philip has the blessing of sharing Christ as that answer. He believes and is baptized, right then and there.

What if Philip had refused to obey the Lord’s plan? What if he had argued that he could be of much more use to the Lord in the city than on a desert road with no apparent destination? The Lord could have chosen to accomplish His will, with or without Philip, but Philip would have missed an amazing moment in his life—a moment we’re still talking about two thousand years later.

Philip’s life is marked by a prompt and trusting obedience that willingly casts aside every plan when the Lord says to move. As Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established,” and later in verse 9, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” In Romans 1:1, Paul describes himself as “a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” We do not exist for ourselves—we are created for the special purpose of knowing God and bringing Him glory. Philip’s understanding of that fact cultivated in him a heart that sought for the gospel to be preached and Jesus to be known.

What led Philip to be so committed? If we take a few steps back in his history, the source of his devotion becomes obvious. John 14:8-10 says, “Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’” (John 14:8-9). This is the answer—Philip had seen the heart of God and was changed forever. He knew and believed in Jesus and could not continue in his old life with its old passions and motivations. Jesus was so important to him, he was willing to leave an apparently perfect situation to walk down a desert road, just because the Lord told him to do it.

I don’t know what your desert road looks like. But if God has called you to it, it is not a pointless journey. Your plans might seem secure and safely contained in your comfort zone. But your will is never worth pursuing at the expense of God’s will. So keep on marching down that desert road—He is with you all the way.

I don’t know where this is going,

But I know who holds my hand.

It’s not the path I would’ve chosen,

But I’ll follow You to the end.

Lord, as long as I am breathing

I will make your glory known,

Even if it means I’m walking

On this desert road.

Casting Crowns