How does God do what He does? So often His ways are a mystery or counterintuitive to our finite, human minds. It shouldn't surprise us when we read that He chooses to spread the Gospel of Jesus like this: "On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria."
We witness Saul beginning to "destroy the church" by "going from house to house". Philip goes to Samaria, followed by Peter and John, and we see men and women believing and being baptized.
We see a strange encounter between Peter and Simon the Sorcerer. Simon seems sincere; himself believing and being baptized as well. He then experiences a misstep, offering money in return for the ability to lay hands and give the Holy Spirit. Peter's response is intense! Simon appears to be sincerely sorry and then he disappears from the scene. I wonder what his life was like after that.
I also wonder what the life of the Ethiopian eunuch was like after his conversion on the road to Gaza. How did God use him in the lives of others? His position as an official of the queen would have provided him great opportunities to be influential, to share what he had learned and experienced. And yet we are left to wonder.
What about us? Can we learn the lessons of Acts 8? Can we recognize hardship as a God-ordained condition used to accomplish His divine purpose in the lives of people? Can we obey God's voice as Philip did when he began working his way down a road toward nothing in particular, simply because the Lord's angel told him to? Can we respond to the Good News of Christ with the enthusiasm and sincerity of the Ethiopian eunuch, and help others to do the same?
Can we forgive and trust God like some of the early believers are going to need to do in Chapter 9?
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