Service with a smile

Remember the story of the first century waiter/dishwasher Philip? This lowkey disciple was faithfully serving food and clearing tables in Jerusalem when the Lord promoted him to headline at a monster revival rally in Samaria. Things were looking up for him. He was moving into the big leagues—locking horns with false prophets, working with Peter! All that hard, yucky work paying off.

Then, God suddenly informed him it was time to hit the road—to a desert.

Philip, used to taking orders, complies. No arguments, no questions. He just leaves. He’s on his way through some pretty sketchy wilderness when he happens to run into an Ethiopian eunuch who happens to be chilling in his chariot—reading Isaiah (doesn’t everyone when they’re taking a road trip break?).

An angel tells Philip, “Here’s your next step…go over and talk to this man.” Philip RUNS over to him (gotta love a waiter who hustles!) and what ensues is pure evangelical beauty. The man asks a few pointed questions. Philip’s ready with Biblical answers and the next thing you know, there’s a new name written down in glory. The eunuch goes on his merry way, and Philip is transported POOF to his next assignment.

Where, FYI, he winds up finding a wife and becoming the proud papa of four prophesying daughters. How’s THAT for a happy ending? If he’d stayed in Samaria…

Has God ever sent you to a desert place, like Philip? Maybe things were going great, when wham! What on earth is THIS all about? No snazzy chariot on the horizon yet, just miles of sand and gnats and gnarly bleached skulls of former dreams and abandoned hopes on the highway. God hasn’t sent your next step yet, but Phil’s story reassures us that once we make that first obedient step, He never fails to reveal the next. Eventually and in His perfect time.

There’s a really good chance it won’t be this dramatic. No hungry soul leafing through the Old Testament may show up on your radar.

You might be waiting tables or stocking shelves in a hardware store, making beds, writing stories no one is reading, driving a shuttle for old folks, comforting a co-worker, caring for your grandkids. Don’t despair. Serving Him faithfully with a dishrag or a diaper or a plate of food in your hand is no less service than preaching to a stranger—if that’s what He’s called you for now.

Let’s look around. There’s probably a soul in need of God’s love and your help right in your daily pathway.

Although, granted, probably not dressed nearly as cool as the Ethiopian.

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.” Acts 8:26