C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasure, but shouts to us in our pain. The painful circumstances – whether we bring them on ourselves, or other people cause them, or the Devil incites them – are used by God to help us grow in likeness to his son.”
The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch demonstrates one way that God speaks through and directs our circumstances. In Acts 8:26, we see the disciples and apostles going around preaching the Good News of Jesus, and God speaks to Philip. “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’” God spoke to Philip and just said, “Go”. So, Philip, trusting God, went south on the desert road and met the Ethiopian eunuch, who was reading in the book of Isaiah and did not understand what he was reading. Philip got in the chariot with the eunuch and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to him. The eunuch put his trust in Jesus, and was so excited about his new life that when he saw water, he urged Philip to baptize him. As the man came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit carried Philip away to a town, and there he kept on preaching the Gospel.
Philip let his geographical circumstances guide him as he remained a willing vessel for God’s kingdom. Through Philip’s obedience and letting God speak to him and guide his circumstances, the Ethiopian eunuch was saved, baptized, and his life was made new.
My brothers and sisters, let the circumstances of your life be a vessel to hear God speaking to you and directing you. Look for the kingdom opportunities in whatever circumstances, locations, or situations you end up in. Maybe it isn’t random or unexpected; maybe it’s a divine appointment and God is speaking to you and nudging you to hear Him and act. God desires to both use your circumstances to bless and preach to people—like Philip—and God desires to speak to you through your circumstances—encourage you, mature you, guide you, correct you, and be with you. Your circumstances are a place where God is speaking to you and through you.
4GIVEN 