Women in the Word Pt. 3: Lydia
Lydia is only found in chapter of scripture, Acts 16. Which begs the question, why do an entire post on a woman who is only found in one chapter of scripture? Well, the answer is simple; Lydia’s story is pretty remarkable.
She was the first person on biblical record to ever respond to the gospel during the apostle Paul’s original missionary journey into Europe. This might not sound like a big deal, but it is, especially when we consider where Lydia was from. Acts 16 reveals that Lydia was from the city of Thyatira. Why is that important? Thyatira was located in Asia Minor and Luke tells us the Holy Spirit forbid Paul, Silas, and Timothy to share the gospel there. What this tells us is that God, instead of reaching Lydia in her hometown, pursued her all the way to Europe.
It’s safe to say that Lydia was surprised by sovereignty. As we look at Lydia’s life three themes appear: slavery to sin, the surprise of sovereignty, and the grip of God’s irresistible grace.
Slavery to sin
John Calvin said it best, the heart is a perpetual idol factory. We are idol addicts. We are on this constant quest for more–more acceptance, more approval, more affirmation, and we got to great lengths to acquire these things. Why? We do so because we believe the idols of affirmation, approval, and acceptance will give us all we need to live happy, meaningful, and secure lives. “If I have this, then I’ll be happy; if I have this, then I’ll matter.” That’s what we tell ourselves, even if not in those very words.
In early November of 2005, the show 60 Minutes interviewed the then New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. As he sat down with correspondent Steven Kroft, he said the following:
"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. I think, ‘God, it’s got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be…I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I’m trying to find."
We hear that and think, “Tom, seriously, like I’ll trade my life for yours in a second.” Despite all that Tom has, despite all his achievements, there is something missing for him. While we think he should be more than content with all God has graced him with, Tom is not. In fact, he is on the same playing field as the rest of us, he’s an idol addict. Like us, Tom is saying, “If I find this thing, whatever that thing might be, I’ll be happy, I’ll have meaning, I’ll find salvation.” It’s a lie, and we’ve all bought it, Tom Brady included. Let me drive this point home a bit deeper.
Back in October 2014, TLC premiered a feature entitled, “Little and Looking for Love,” the premiere covered the story of an eighteen-year-old teen named Hannah. The story became hugely popular because Hannah is a teenaged primordial dwarf–a rare form of dwarfism with only 80 documented cases in the world at the time.
Hannah stands at just 39 inches tall. As she approached high school graduation, her dream was to go to prom with her friend Connor. At the beginning of the feature, they quote Hannah saying, “I believe in romance, I just haven’t found it yet.” As they recount when her adoptive parents brought her home, Hannah remarks, “I always wanted to be loved, and I got that.” As the interview goes on, it becomes apparent that is not the case.
Hannah’s condition puts her life constantly at risk, she could die from an aneurism at any moment. Despite knowing how short her life is she is completely arrested by the thought of acquiring romantic love. The love, acceptance, approval, and affirmation she has experienced from her mother, father, brothers and sister has not been enough for her. If Hannah could have a boyfriend, she would be happy.
Do you see the thread running through each of the stories?
Hannah, like Tom Brady, like all of us, are idol addicts–slaves to the thought that if we can acquire the blessings our idols promise, we would be happy. We are slaves to the sin idolatry, and we know this because our wills are bent toward what we love. When we turn to idols, we are showing we love that thing more than God. Thus, we need divine intervention. God is aware of our sad state, and does something about it. This is where Lydia’s story really starts.
The surprise of sovereignty
She was from Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, and a worshiper of God (Acts 16:14). That last part is important. Lydia was a worshiper of God. She was worshiping the Jewish way, not the Christian way yet. We know this because Luke didn’t say she was a worshiper of the Lord, but a worshiper of YHWH. You see, Lydia was hanging around the place of prayer on the Sabbath, probably a place near the local synagogue. So Paul approaches the women there to speak to them, but what we are told is one heard his message–Lydia.
Apparently, Lydia was seeking God, but really God was seeking her–drawing her to himself through Paul’s preaching of Christ. And upon his preaching the Lord opens her heart to hear his message. We are helpless to change our own hearts for the better. Whenever we see a soul like Lydia’s seeking God, we can be sure God is drawing them. Lydia was listening to Paul’s gospel, but it's only because God gave her the spiritual ears to hear.
She had an open heart, but it was God who opened that heart. The Holy Spirit forbade Paul and his companions to preach in Asia, and God could have easily met Lydia in her hometown, but he pursued her to Europe. God surprised her by his sovereignty and gripped her by his irresistible grace.
Gripped by irresistible grace
Lydia’s story shows us the truth of how irresistible God’s grace is. Grace doesn’t push sinners against their wills toward Christ; it draws them willingly to him by first opening their hearts, as in Lydia’s case. Grace enables sinners to see their sin for what it is and empowers them to despise the idols they formerly loved. Someone whose heart has been gripped by grace, whose heart has been opened like Lydia’s, will inevitably find Christ irresistible.
On one morning in May of 1973, Alister McGrath, Christian apologist and professor at Oxford University, found that his new Christian faith was taking a decisive turn. Alister was an aggressive atheist prior to becoming a Christian, and when he converted to Christianity in his first semester at Oxford he knew he was intellectually convinced Christianity was the truth. Eighteen months after his conversion he realized that he was missing the heart of the gospel. So he decided to take a trip into the woods with his Bible to read Philippians 3.
Upon reading this is what Alister had to say:
"The first breakthrough came as I contemplated Paul’s declaration, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” As I read and reread those words, I began to realize the true nature of my problem: My faith had affected my mind but left the rest of me untouched."
Alister’s story is just like Lydia’s story–they were both worshipers of God, but their hearts had not been opened yet. Both their stories show us that there is a huge difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing Jesus. Alister captures what a life gripped by irresistible grace looks like, he said:
"Previously, I had tended to see my faith as something I needed to sustain; now I realized it could sustain me. I began to think of my faith as being grasped and held by Christ, and adjusted every aspect of my life accordingly—my mind, heart, imagination, and hands."
That’s what a life gripped by God’s irresistible grace looks like, a life transformed. Head, heart, imagination, and hands changed.
Beautiful.
She was the first person on biblical record to ever respond to the gospel during the apostle Paul’s original missionary journey into Europe. This might not sound like a big deal, but it is, especially when we consider where Lydia was from. Acts 16 reveals that Lydia was from the city of Thyatira. Why is that important? Thyatira was located in Asia Minor and Luke tells us the Holy Spirit forbid Paul, Silas, and Timothy to share the gospel there. What this tells us is that God, instead of reaching Lydia in her hometown, pursued her all the way to Europe.
It’s safe to say that Lydia was surprised by sovereignty. As we look at Lydia’s life three themes appear: slavery to sin, the surprise of sovereignty, and the grip of God’s irresistible grace.
Slavery to sin
John Calvin said it best, the heart is a perpetual idol factory. We are idol addicts. We are on this constant quest for more–more acceptance, more approval, more affirmation, and we got to great lengths to acquire these things. Why? We do so because we believe the idols of affirmation, approval, and acceptance will give us all we need to live happy, meaningful, and secure lives. “If I have this, then I’ll be happy; if I have this, then I’ll matter.” That’s what we tell ourselves, even if not in those very words.
In early November of 2005, the show 60 Minutes interviewed the then New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. As he sat down with correspondent Steven Kroft, he said the following:
"Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what is.’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. I think, ‘God, it’s got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn’t, this can’t be what it’s all cracked up to be…I love playing football and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I’m trying to find."
We hear that and think, “Tom, seriously, like I’ll trade my life for yours in a second.” Despite all that Tom has, despite all his achievements, there is something missing for him. While we think he should be more than content with all God has graced him with, Tom is not. In fact, he is on the same playing field as the rest of us, he’s an idol addict. Like us, Tom is saying, “If I find this thing, whatever that thing might be, I’ll be happy, I’ll have meaning, I’ll find salvation.” It’s a lie, and we’ve all bought it, Tom Brady included. Let me drive this point home a bit deeper.
Back in October 2014, TLC premiered a feature entitled, “Little and Looking for Love,” the premiere covered the story of an eighteen-year-old teen named Hannah. The story became hugely popular because Hannah is a teenaged primordial dwarf–a rare form of dwarfism with only 80 documented cases in the world at the time.
Hannah stands at just 39 inches tall. As she approached high school graduation, her dream was to go to prom with her friend Connor. At the beginning of the feature, they quote Hannah saying, “I believe in romance, I just haven’t found it yet.” As they recount when her adoptive parents brought her home, Hannah remarks, “I always wanted to be loved, and I got that.” As the interview goes on, it becomes apparent that is not the case.
Hannah’s condition puts her life constantly at risk, she could die from an aneurism at any moment. Despite knowing how short her life is she is completely arrested by the thought of acquiring romantic love. The love, acceptance, approval, and affirmation she has experienced from her mother, father, brothers and sister has not been enough for her. If Hannah could have a boyfriend, she would be happy.
Do you see the thread running through each of the stories?
Hannah, like Tom Brady, like all of us, are idol addicts–slaves to the thought that if we can acquire the blessings our idols promise, we would be happy. We are slaves to the sin idolatry, and we know this because our wills are bent toward what we love. When we turn to idols, we are showing we love that thing more than God. Thus, we need divine intervention. God is aware of our sad state, and does something about it. This is where Lydia’s story really starts.
The surprise of sovereignty
She was from Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, and a worshiper of God (Acts 16:14). That last part is important. Lydia was a worshiper of God. She was worshiping the Jewish way, not the Christian way yet. We know this because Luke didn’t say she was a worshiper of the Lord, but a worshiper of YHWH. You see, Lydia was hanging around the place of prayer on the Sabbath, probably a place near the local synagogue. So Paul approaches the women there to speak to them, but what we are told is one heard his message–Lydia.
Apparently, Lydia was seeking God, but really God was seeking her–drawing her to himself through Paul’s preaching of Christ. And upon his preaching the Lord opens her heart to hear his message. We are helpless to change our own hearts for the better. Whenever we see a soul like Lydia’s seeking God, we can be sure God is drawing them. Lydia was listening to Paul’s gospel, but it's only because God gave her the spiritual ears to hear.
She had an open heart, but it was God who opened that heart. The Holy Spirit forbade Paul and his companions to preach in Asia, and God could have easily met Lydia in her hometown, but he pursued her to Europe. God surprised her by his sovereignty and gripped her by his irresistible grace.
Gripped by irresistible grace
Lydia’s story shows us the truth of how irresistible God’s grace is. Grace doesn’t push sinners against their wills toward Christ; it draws them willingly to him by first opening their hearts, as in Lydia’s case. Grace enables sinners to see their sin for what it is and empowers them to despise the idols they formerly loved. Someone whose heart has been gripped by grace, whose heart has been opened like Lydia’s, will inevitably find Christ irresistible.
On one morning in May of 1973, Alister McGrath, Christian apologist and professor at Oxford University, found that his new Christian faith was taking a decisive turn. Alister was an aggressive atheist prior to becoming a Christian, and when he converted to Christianity in his first semester at Oxford he knew he was intellectually convinced Christianity was the truth. Eighteen months after his conversion he realized that he was missing the heart of the gospel. So he decided to take a trip into the woods with his Bible to read Philippians 3.
Upon reading this is what Alister had to say:
"The first breakthrough came as I contemplated Paul’s declaration, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” As I read and reread those words, I began to realize the true nature of my problem: My faith had affected my mind but left the rest of me untouched."
Alister’s story is just like Lydia’s story–they were both worshipers of God, but their hearts had not been opened yet. Both their stories show us that there is a huge difference between knowing about Jesus and actually knowing Jesus. Alister captures what a life gripped by irresistible grace looks like, he said:
"Previously, I had tended to see my faith as something I needed to sustain; now I realized it could sustain me. I began to think of my faith as being grasped and held by Christ, and adjusted every aspect of my life accordingly—my mind, heart, imagination, and hands."
That’s what a life gripped by God’s irresistible grace looks like, a life transformed. Head, heart, imagination, and hands changed.
Beautiful.
Rev. Mike Hernandez serves as the senior pastor of Crossroads Presbyterian Church. He is a graduate of Trinity International University (B.A.), Knox Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) at Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando. He has written for Gospel-Centered Discipleship and is a member of the National Association of Scholars.
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