First Baptist Church Bethany Students: Going in the Right Direction

What am I supposed to do now? Where am I supposed to go? What does God want from me?

If those sound like familiar questions then you are not alone... in fact there is a large family of people struggling with those questions on a daily basis... don’t you wish it was this easy sometimes...

“As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”

Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.

The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.

As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.”

(Acts 8:26–40 NLT-SE)

This story is pretty digestible, and very helpful for those of us trying to do what God would ask of us. Not only do we have a disciple following in Jesus’ footsteps, God actually moves Phillip’s feet to where they need to be (final line)... Man if only we were Phillip and God actually just told us what to do and put us in these awesome situations.... It seemed like Phillip couldn’t mess this one up... if there was ever a slow-pitch faith sharing episode to swing at, this was that moment....

BUT THEN WE GET STORIES LIKE THIS

“Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest. He requested letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, asking for their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the Way he found there. He wanted to bring them—both men and women—back to Jerusalem in chains.

As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

“Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one! Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink.

Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied.

The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”

“But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem! And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”

But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength. Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”

All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?”

Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.”

(Acts 9:1–22 NLT-SE)

Right after Philip’s story we encounter a character that was mentioned earlier in the Book Acts... a man named Saul a loathsome villain against those who believe is converted... by Jesus?...

but then we consider the word Convert/Repent- and it is direction change a unit alteration... conversion doesn’t necessarily destroy what the thing was but it changes how it is understood and what it is used for... for example- fractions don’t work well for counting back somebody change and kelvin units of temperature only make sense to chemistry nerds that think that absolute zero is any number other than zero (that one was for all the AP Chemistry students that got hot like mercury)...

Saul/Paul was still the same impassioned guy who would stop at nothing to see his goals achieved... he was just WAY off track in his goals... he was literally headed in the wrong direction

so here we have the worst enemy of Christ become one His greatest followers, disciples, leaders...

so maybe it is not you maybe it is just the place you are headed...

or here is some bluesy wisdom to consider...