A few days ago I was at Macy’s trying to find suitable replacements to three of my very tattered and unwearable slacks (it wasn’t a good pants week for me). So obviously I don’t do this often, nor should I be allowed to go on my own to a clothing store– mostly out of fear of what my style and fashion may havoc. But all of us have to grow up some time. I’m thinking I look incredibly lost or at least I look beyond bewildered because the next thing I know, I have two personal shoppers from the Macy’s men’s clothing department standing next to me, telling me what to try on. Luckily for them, I like obnoxiously uncomfortable scenes and so I humored them, heeding their advice on what brand does what according to size and what effect inseams have on the way it makes legs elongate and etc, etc. I didn’t learn much. But nonetheless, they provided guidance to a fashion challenged individual. I share this story, not to make you red with jealousy about how I allowed two impersonal shoppers choose my pants, but to mark out what an opportunity to God’s work may look like. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” – Acts 8:29-30 A lot of us have a hard time discerning God’s Will for our lives. But that’s understandable because a vision from God is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. It can be a lifetime and then you feel like maybe you’re only at the beginning. Even more problematic than that is our inability to find the right puzzle pieces, that is God’s opportunities, to fit together on any given day. In this chapter of Acts we find the disciple Philip, who is led by God to His opportunities time and time again. It seems so easy too. I mean, God’s Spirit simply tells him. If God’s Spirit simply vocalized what we need to do, life would be much easier. It would be way easier than the minutiae we have to wade through now; so how do we even apply this? God says “go” and so Philip “goes.” God doesn’t say why, Philip is just told to go. Then, as Philip is in the situation, he perceives the need– the dude is reading Scripture but doesn’t know what it means. The salespeople at Macy’s hawked on me the same way, they saw me make perplexed faces at the pants. I’m looking at the clothes (two black slacks) and I can’t decipher what the dimension tags mean! God’s opportunity for us is plainly out there, we just can’t see the simplicity of it. In perceiving the “need,” Philip fulfills it in asking the eunuch if he wants it explained. God’s will for us daily is simply finding and giving directions to people on their journeys. We all have something to offer. We have an unique perspective that only we can bring into somebody’s life– that is a God given gift! You also have a circle of people in your life and then there are constantly people coming in and out of your lives whose needs go unmet daily. This is God’s calling/vision for you right now– to fill the need of people requiring your unique perspective and input. A lot of us will rather pass that up because our two cents is none of their business, but really that’s just overtly selfish. The same way you have people speak into your life, make sure you are speaking into theirs or at least into the lives of people around you right now. This is God’s Will for you and there’s no question about it. Be bold and dare to ask somebody how you can speak into their lives. You’ll be more than surprised by what you have to offer.
