Ignoring the Excuses in Our Heads

Today's Reading: Acts 8:26-40

Have you ever felt a certain tug on your heart to do something but just couldn't bring yourself to do it? Maybe you felt certain you had heard the voice of the Father, but tried to hum loud enough to drown it out. Or maybe that's just me! But I do expect we've all been in that place where we knew we should be doing a certain thing and came up with all kinds of excuses not to listen. 

In today's reading, we find Philip in a similar situation. The angel of the Lord tells him to go south on the road from Jerusalm to Gaza. On his way, he sees a eunuch riding in a chariot on his way home to Ethiopia. Oddly enough, the man was reading from the book of Isaiah. And the angel speaks to Philip again and tells him to go to the chariot and stay near it.

That is exactly what Philip did too. He was obedient to the voice of the angel and the Ethipion eunuch came to know Jesus and was baptized right there on the road. 

It would have been very easy for Philip to make excuses. Maybe they would have sounded like this: "Stay near the chariot? I'm on foot. How am I supposed to catch up with him, let alone stay near him."

"He's not from around here. I bet we don't even speak the same language."

"Uh oh...he's got a scroll in his hands. What if he asks me a question I don't know the answer to."

"He is minding his own business. Maybe I should just mind mine."

Do any of those excuses sound familiar to you? They do to me. In fact, I've probably used one or two of those exact excuses myself. If Philip had used these excuses, this story would probably have a different ending for both men. Philip would have missed the opportunity to be obedient, the eunuch wouldn't have understood the scripture and might not have come to know Jesus. 

We have the same opportunity to reach out as Philip did. We meet people every day who need to know Jesus and just need someone to introduce them. God is calling each of us to do that right now. Are we making up excuses in our heads about why we shouldn't or couldn't do it? Are we letting those excuses drown out the voice of the Spirit? 

Let's agree together that we will listen for that voice and when we hear it we will be obedient...regardless of the excuses in our heads. Someone's eternal life may depend on it. 

- Holly Barrett