I’ve been looking at Acts 8. Imagine how Philip may have felt when he was told to abandon a fruitful ministry in the Samaritan villages in order to go to the southern road to Gaza. Luke, the writer of Acts, indicates parenthetically that the road is a lonely one–wilderness. Not much out there. Dangerous.

Philip wasn’t one to question, though. He packed up and left because the Spirit told him to. May I be such a faithful, obedient follower.

I have long been interested in the difference in the way Isaiah wrote the prophecy concerning “the voice of one crying.” The way Isaiah puts it,  the voice is calling for a road to be built in the wilderness, it isn’t out in the wilderness calling for the road to be built.  Hmmm. Maybe that’s a crucial difference. Maybe our job in the lonely places is to prepare a highway for the Lord. Maybe when Father calls us to the lonely place He is entrusting us to prepare the way. That’s important work. Listen! Do you hear the voice? Hear it calling: Hey, you! Out there in your lonely, deserted, wilderness place–start clearing a way for Me.

Here we are at the beginning of new year. What lies ahead? Wilderness? Perhaps Father would call us to a wilderness where we can prepare a highway for the Lord. He has need of a road and He has entrusted you to clear the way for it.

Here’s the message I taught at MacArthur Blvd. Christian Church in Vancouver, WA.

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