31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Everyone of us needs someone to teach them at some point in life. The longer we stay students of life, the longer we stay engaged with life. Older people who continue to learn live longer than those who don’t. We have to work to keep our minds sharp. Our modern society does not value intelligence. Instead, it values entertainment. How much money gets poured into college chess clubs, spelling clubs, history clubs, or math clubs as compared to football! We don’t value education as a whole. We pay our public school teachers barely enough to survive. You get my point. Philip has chased down a chariot with a very important rider. This man is a financial whiz for the nation of Ethiopia. And yet, when he reads the prophet Isaiah, he can’t quite understand what he is reading. He knows the words, but knows he is missing something. The difference between this man and countless billions of people is that he is willing to ask for help to understand. We don’t know if he has asked others, or whether this is a new question for him. But God has Philip approach at just the moment when he is questioning the most. Philip engages him and the rest is history. He becomes a Jesus-follower in the following few short minutes. We all have opportunities to answer the questions of those who are struggling to understand. But we, like Philip, must be ready to answer. We must be in tune with the Spirit so that we will respond when the Spirit tells us to run. We must know the Scriptures and be willing to share our testimony. When we see someone in crisis, we can be there with them. At that point they will ask questions, but they are usually not able to hear the answers yet. But we can be there with them and earn the right to answer these same questions later on in their journey. An intellectual answer will not suffice when someone is in pain. They need someone to be with them in their pain, to not run away when pushed, to be willing to be a shock absorber. When we have not run away in the turmoil, then we can share the Answer, because we have been like the Lord, never running away. To whom is God calling you to stay with during the questioning time?
The Arnold Journey 