Being Prepared for Our “Reach”

On Sunday we looked at the life of Philip.  We focused on a few different areas but the one I want to think about this morning is the idea of preparation.  One of the Boy Scout mottos is “Be Prepared”.  I only made it to one rank in Boy Scouts but I do remember that!  In Philip’s life we are told in Acts 6:3 that Philip was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.  This was his “preparation” for the rest of his life.  Philip’s church career began with the assignment of helping to take care of food distribution for widows.  He then moved into preacher, healer, caster out of demons and evangelist.  How could he possibly be prepared for all of these tasks?

I go back to Acts 6:3.  We are told that Philip was full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.  How does that prepare him for helping with food distribution?  How does that help him with “demon casting”?  I guess the way to see this is that if you are “full of the Holy Spirit” you are pretty much prepared for anything that comes your way because God is never unprepared.  It’s not possible for us to know everything that will come our way, for the type of “reach” that God has for us.  But it is possible for us to be prepared.  Each of us has the opportunity to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom.  God can do this in each of our lives regardless of our circumstances or situations of life.

So start the preparation process.  No.  You won’t know what the end is going to look like but you do know what the beginning looks like.   Get started!