"The Woman Who Changed the World"

“The Woman Who Changed the World”

Dr. Joe Alain

Scripture Reading: Acts 16:6-15

Have you ever found yourself struggling as to what direction God wanted you to go? You’re not sure which path to take, or the path that you feel is the right path seems hard and the doors are closing? This is kind of where we find Paul and the other believers in Acts 16:6-15. They are sure that they are going in the right direction, that they have taken the right path, but it’s been hard, the doors seem closed at every turn. But then God gives them a vision, He redirects their path and when they follow the Lord’s plan they discover God’s incredible blessings and peace. They come to realize that they are right where God wants them to be.

How we respond to God is very important as to the outcome we experience. Our decisions matter. In this story we see that Paul’s response of obedience and others brought the Gospel to Europe. Lydia’s response of obedience brought salvation to her and her household. Your response to God’s will has life-altering implications too – for you and others in your family and beyond.

The missionary journeys of Paul reveal an amazing combination of strategic planning and sensitivity to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in working out the details of the main goals. Paul has the big goal in view, that of the Great Commission. And he has a plan for spreading the Gospel, but the details of the plan are subject to God’s direction through the Holy Spirit. At first, Paul was planning to go towards the important coastal city and capital of the Roman province of Asia, Ephesus. But he was “kept by the Holy Spirit” (v.6). So, instead Paul and his companions travelled throughout the area of Phrygia and Galatia. We are told that the Holy Spirit kept them from “preaching the Word in the province of Asia.” How the Spirit closed this door we are not told. Did they face opposition? Did they sense that the people were just not ready to respond? We just don’t know. But what we do see in this passage beyond the closed doors is the sensitivity and obedience of the disciples to follow the leading of the “Holy Spirit.”

Since God the Holy Spirit prohibited Paul and the others from going into Asia (Bythinia), they instead traveled to Troas where Paul had a vision during the night of a man from Macedonia “standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’” (vv.9-10). While Paul wanted to go to Asia, God wanted him to go to Europe. Sometimes what we want to do is not what God wants us to do. And what we don’t want to do, is precisely what God wants us to do. So how do we know where God wants us to go? How do we know what He wants us to do? One way we can tell is by asking the questions, “Where is the need? Where is God at work? Who is ‘begging’ us to come?” Sometimes we may miss the obvious.

Paul and his partners in ministry were convinced that they should go to Macedonia so they got “ready at once” (v.10). With this step of obedience and faith, Paul and his partners in the Gospel were changing the world. Now, the Gospel will go to Europe. The fact that they “concluded” that God was calling them to preach the Gospel in Macedonia shows that Paul shared the vision with the others and they decided “together” what the will of God was. However, it’s important to see that they are not “deciding” whether they are going to serve and do ministry, that’s already been decided. What they are deciding is the direction of their ministry, where is God leading them, and where there is a need there is often our direction.

When Paul and the others came to Philippi they went to the riverside where some women had met for prayer (vv.13-15). Paul’s usual “MO” was to go to a local synagogue but apparently there were not even ten Jewish male head of households in Philippi who could be in regular attendance, the requirement for a Synagogue. Paul and the others must have thought, “Lord, and why are we here?” They would soon find out for down by the riverside Paul would have an opportunity to speak the Gospel to the women who had met for worship (v.13).

Luke gives us some specific details about one of the women at the river that day, Lydia (vv.14-15). She was from “the city of Thyatira,” a city of western Asia Minor and her name was Lydia or perhaps “the Lydian Lady” as she has been called. She apparently assumed the name of her native country as we might call a woman born in Georgia, “Georgia.” We are also told that Lydia was “a dealer in purple cloth.” Thyatira was famous for making purple dyes and for dyeing clothes. Lydia was apparently a traveling businesswoman who sold luxurious purple-dyed cloth for a living.

And Luke tells us about her faith, she had been attracted to Judaism and “was a worshiper of God.” We can guess that she was either unmarried or a widow and that some of the women that gathered for worship were relatives living in her home. Lydia was “listening” to the disciples and “The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (v.14). If there would have only been one person to trust Christ in Philippi, it would have been a worth the arduous trip. But the one would become many. Lydia “and the members of her household were baptized” (v.15). Here was an instance of household evangelism.

Something beautiful and God-sized is taking place here. Paul and others are listening to the Holy Spirit, they take the Gospel to Philippi where there are people who are “sitting on ready” to respond and entire households are being changed by the power of the Gospel. Now, Paul is beginning to see why he is in Philippi and not Bythinia. Sometimes the right choice is not the one that looks right on paper, it’s sometimes the less appealing choice. From these small beginnings along the river bank, the church at Philippi began. Apparently, Lydia was a woman of some means and it seems her home became the center for Christian outreach and worship in Philippi (cf. 16:40). From this quiet spot 800 miles from Rome the Gospel would spread westward throughout all Europe and eventually America. You could say that Lydia was “The Woman that Changed the World!” Our decisions do matter. What will be the impact of your response of obedience and faith? As Paul and others like Lydia responded to God’s will, your decision to respond just may change your world!

Dr. Joe Alain

Denham Springs, Louisiana

May 11, 2015