What Happens When You Say Yes to the Holy Spirit?
Life rarely goes according to plan. Sometimes God interrupts our carefully laid-out paths with unexpected timing, unexpected places, or even unexpected people. And that’s exactly what Acts 8 shows us through the story of Philip.
Philip was seeing incredible success in Samaria—crowds gathered, miracles happened, and there was “great joy in that city” (Acts 8:8). By every measure, it looked like the perfect time to stay put. But then came the interruption: “An angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza’” (Acts 8:26).
It didn’t make sense. Why leave revival for a desert road? Yet Philip said yes. And because of his obedience, he encountered an Ethiopian official—someone marginalized by culture and excluded under Old Testament law—who was searching for God. Philip explained the good news of Jesus, baptized him, and the gospel reached a whole new region.
This is the pattern of the Spirit’s leading: He often redirects us when it seems inconvenient, stretches us toward people we’d never choose on our own, and calls us to trust when we don’t have all the details.
The question isn’t whether the Spirit is speaking—the question is whether we’ll say yes.
When we surrender our plans to Him, we discover what Philip found: divine appointments, transformed lives, and a front-row seat to God’s expanding kingdom.
Acts 8 shows Philip leaving revival in Samaria to walk a desert road. Why do you think God sometimes redirects us from what seems “successful”?
Have you ever experienced a moment where God interrupted your plans with His timing? How did you respond?
Philip was sent not just to an unexpected place, but to an unexpected person (the Ethiopian eunuch). Who might be the “unexpected people” God is calling you to reach?
What makes it difficult to say “yes” to the Spirit in your daily life? How can we cultivate hearts that are ready to obey?
The eunuch responded with joy and baptism the moment he understood the gospel. How can we keep our faith fresh and responsive like his?