Thursday, July 21 – Acts 8:39-40

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

After spending a lot of time searching for God, hearing the gospel from Philip, then being baptized, the eunuch was left alone just as he had begun. For some of us, this moment would be full of worry, unsure of what to do next. But because he was transformed by God through the power of the Holy Spirit, the eunuch rejoiced. This man’s zeal for God was ignited by Philip’s teaching but was not contingent on Philip’s teaching. It was God who had changed him and made him new, and now, through God, he had everything he needed to follow with his life. The eunuch didn’t worry about what happened next: he continued his journey, fully and openly rejoicing in his new faith in God.

There are many times we are confused by what God puts before us. Sometimes our good intentions don’t turn out as we hoped, or a door closes where we thought God was giving us an opportunity to follow Him. We can see from the passage today that when we are following Jesus, the circumstances in our lives do not need to make sense for us to rejoice. Philip and the eunuch were steadfast in the hope of Jesus, and both left the divine appointment God had given them ready to share the gospel with others. When we hit a roadblock or a disorienting moment, we can hold onto our anchor, Christ, and know that regardless of our circumstances, we can share His hope wherever we go.

• When have you had a confusing moment in your walk with Jesus? What was that like?
• What would it look like to rejoice regardless of the circumstances?
• Pray and ask God to keep you anchored in His joy and hope in all circumstances.