As I prepared for the “Relating to the Inner Twelve” series on my Rocking My World blog site I was reminded that the Philip in Acts 8 who was transported to a different location was NOT the apostle Philip. He was one of the Greek men chosen to help the apostles. (Acts 6:5)

At first I was disappointed that the apostle Philip was not the one spoken of in the Acts encounter. Then a light bulb went on.

Everyone always expects special wild miracles – like a leg growing back or something appearing out of nowhere – to happen to the super religious… super prayer warriors… super teacher-types. Well, this second Philip was not an apostle or a teacher or a Jew. He was, however, a leader but only a support leader. In fact, he was more of a server than a stand-in-front-of-everyone kind of leader. And look what happened to him.

In Acts 8 he finds himself running for his life because Saul and Jerusalem officials are out to get all the believers. Philip ends up in Samaria where he preaches the gospel until Peter and John arrive. Shortly after the departure of the apostles, with the direction from an angel of the Lord, he once again is traveling. While on the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza, Philip meets up with the procession of an Ethiopian dignitary.

After following the Holy Spirit’s instructions, Philip first explains scripture to the influential Ethiopian then instructs him further. In the last section of Acts 8, we see that when they arrive to some water Philip baptizes the Eunuch. And as soon as he finishes that, off he goes to another location. Not on foot, but via God’s transporting him to a new place.

Wow! Sci-fi in Biblical times.

His experience tells me the Lord can use any of us, wherever we are or wherever He takes us. We may not even be the person selected to do an action, but God has the final say. We just have to be willing to be used of God. Ready for the unusual. Ready for the never happened before moments. And like Philip we need to be ready for what the Lord needs us to do when we arrive.

The wild thing is … the story doesn’t end there. According to church history/tradition, when the disciples arrived in Ethiopia to spread the gospel, they discover that a healthy community of believers was already in the land.

Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord shows us He will use everyone He can to spread the good news. Philip’s simple act of obedience went further than one man. The same is true for us. Sometimes sharing the news with one person is all it takes to get the word out. The second or third person after us may be the one to expand the reach. All we need to do is focus on the one person in front of us, the one the Lord has brought to us.

And who knows, maybe we’ll be transported to a totally different place when we’re done. Sci-fi in real life.