So one weekend back on college, my best friend and I were driving back to school, trying to make our midnight curfew (military service academy; henceforth the curfew). Like I said it was back I College so the car I was driving was not in the best shape and I was having a fuel filter problem. The car stopped on the side of the road, my friend and I were exhausted from all of the fun we’d had that weekend so with the car not working properly, no money to call for roadside assistance, no AAA or any real since of help coming, we did what any students would do. We said Lord help us and we both fell asleep, maybe we’d wake up and it would have been a dream 😀.

All of a sudden we were both startled by a knock on the window. This was a major interstate (I-95 N), so the likelihood someone would just pull over to help us was very unlikely. Yet this smiling older gentleman said “Is everything alright?” I said “we were just having some car trouble.” The gentleman then said these words; “Everything is fine now; you’ll be fine.” That’s it!!! He didn’t give us any help with the car; didn’t diagnose the problem. He simply got into his car and drove off. My friend and I looked at each other laughing, we then looked ahead to see what type of car the man was driving and could not see anything; it was as if he disappeared into the evening sun. I then turned the key without much expectation; the car not only started, but we drove the remaining 5 hours or so back to school without any issues. God had answered our halfhearted prayer by sending this mysterious man to speak a word to us.

Why this story? Because that old man seemed to just be “Caught Away,” or taken away. That would not be the only time this type of situation had happened to me in my life; but when reading Acts recently, this was brought to mind:

Acts 8:38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to Caesarea.

Here we find such an event in scripture (one of several such events) with the explanation for our car trouble situation. It’s was not happenstance; it was the Holy Spirit.

In this text we see the end of a Holy Spirit interaction. This Ethiopian leader was on his way home after worshipping in Jerusalem. When the Holy Spirit told Phillip Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26).” When Philip arrived, he found the Ethiopian seeking to understand scripture. Phillip led him to Christ, then baptized him. And Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more. The minute Phillip’s assignment was completed, he was caught away, by the Holy Spirit.

We should never be surprised when God sends His angles to assist us in our times of need. The Ethiopian man needed Christ and Phillip was sent to make the introduction. Yet following Philip baptizing the Eunuch, the man saw him no more. Once the “old smiling man” gave me and my fried a comforting Word, we saw him no more. When you’re in your time of need the Spirit of the Lord will send help (Psalm 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills; From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth). We are reminded in Hebrews, to treat everyone with kindness, because they may just be positioned as your help (Heb 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels).