Giving your all… while doing things by halves

This morning, reading in the second half of Acts chapter eight, I came to the account of Philip and the government official from Ethiopia. What, I wondered, would God have to show me today from such a well known story?

As I began to read, the first thing that stood out to me was that Philip left an exciting revival in Samaria and went to a desert place - for the sake of just one man. We never really know how important one individual’s response can be in God’s “big picture.”

I remember, some years back, my housemate Ada, said to me that if God had brought me to Spain uniquely for her sake, then it had been worth it. And I’ve also thought at times that if my being in Spain would be the catalyst that brings one of my neighbours to know the Lord, then it would all be worth it. Spain feels like home now, but it felt like a desert place of exile in the early days of missing South Africa.

So Philip's experience speaks deeply to me when I think of my plans for Africa this summer. An unexpected change of international scheduling meant that there was a date conflict between the Planting Together outreach in Senegal and the Fortify leadership workshop in the Ivory Coast. I confess that I felt some reluctance about flying up to Senegal right in the middle of Fortify.... and then having to leave in the middle of Planting Together to fly back down to Ivory Coast for the end of Fortify and the start of leadership meetings. I’m not someone who likes to do things by halves and I would never intentionally plan to be at only half of something, as there’s a kind of inner frustration provoked by not being there for the whole thing. I won’t even watch a movie if I’ve already missed the first ten minutes of it... or if I know that I’ll need to leave before the end!

So I considered not going to Planting Together this year, even though I’ve been one of the pioneers of it and have been involved from the very beginning. Opting out wasn’t really a viable option, however, as I had made a commitment to be the programme director for the orientation camp.... and circumstances meant that I was now the only French speaker in the leadership team, and was needed for several days of meetings with government officials, even before the participants arrive for the camp and outreach.

At the end of Acts chapter 8, the Holy Spirit “snatched Philip away” as soon as he had finished baptising the Ethiopian; he wasn’t even able to hang around a little longer in order to disciple the man further. A sober reminder that everything depends on God and not on us.

And so, faced with the unavoidable reality of “having to do things by halves” this summer, I guess I can take heart from the example of Philip and know that it’s possible to give my all, even when doing things by halves! God can always take and use our 100% investment, even when circumstances make us feel as though we're betraying our life philosophy. He did it for Philip, so I guess He can do it for me.