"On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. 'If you consider me a believer in the Lord,' she said, 'come and stay at my house.' And she persuaded us." (Acts 16:13-15 NIV)
When my daughter Lydia was not quite five years old, she told her grandma (my husband's mom) that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. My mother-in-law says she remembers thinking maybe it was something Lydia should do with my husband and me, but she decided her granddaughter's heart was ready and so led Lydia in a prayer of salvation.
All these years later, I'm so glad my mother-in-law seized that moment, because Lydia has never turned back from that decision. It was a deliberate, informed, intentional choice born out of a lifetime (short as it was at the time) of hearing truth about who God is at home, from her grandparents and other trusted adults, in Sunday School and junior church, at vacation Bible school, at preschool.
All these years later, I'm so glad my mother-in-law seized that moment, because Lydia has never turned back from that decision. It was a deliberate, informed, intentional choice born out of a lifetime (short as it was at the time) of hearing truth about who God is at home, from her grandparents and other trusted adults, in Sunday School and junior church, at vacation Bible school, at preschool.
God opened her heart...and our Lydia invited Him in.
Our older daughter's Biblical predecessor, Lydia of Thyatira (a city famous for its purple cloth), is considered the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe. Lydia knew of God, believed in Him, reverenced Him. But that day, when she went down to the river to worship the God she knew, she met the Living Water she did not yet know—and invited Him into her heart.
This should be comforting and freeing, and in some ways, it is: it is not my responsibility to save anyone (as if I could). And yet the control freak in me dislikes this necessary letting-go. It leaves too much to someone else's will: God's will (perfect though it is) and free will, which can always choose to walk away. I want God's best for the people I love and care about. I want their hearts to be moved toward Him.
But then I hear God's gentle voice: "Don't you think I want that, too? I love them more in one second than you could love them in a lifetime. I love them most, in fact. But this is not a contest. I am already the Victor of every race. You just keep running toward me and invite others to join in along the way, and one day, we will cross the finish line together."
* * * * * *
God, thank You that You still open hearts. Help me to share your message and then trust You to do the saving.
Our older daughter's Biblical predecessor, Lydia of Thyatira (a city famous for its purple cloth), is considered the first recorded convert to Christianity in Europe. Lydia knew of God, believed in Him, reverenced Him. But that day, when she went down to the river to worship the God she knew, she met the Living Water she did not yet know—and invited Him into her heart.
Up until that time, Lydia had visited God's house, so to speak. But in that hinge moment, she took her seat at the family table as God's adopted daughter.
One line in the page of Lydia's story recorded in Scripture informs all our stories, too: "The Lord opened her heart to respond." Paul delivered God's message, but the Holy Spirit moved Lydia's heart to take possession of it.
When I'm sharing God's story with someone, I always feel a burden to "make" them believe it and respond to it. But of course that is not my job. It is not the job of any of us. Our job, like Paul's, is to lay the wood for the fire and then to trust God Himself to ignite it. Our job is to plug people in and then trust God to supply the spiritual current.
One line in the page of Lydia's story recorded in Scripture informs all our stories, too: "The Lord opened her heart to respond." Paul delivered God's message, but the Holy Spirit moved Lydia's heart to take possession of it.
When I'm sharing God's story with someone, I always feel a burden to "make" them believe it and respond to it. But of course that is not my job. It is not the job of any of us. Our job, like Paul's, is to lay the wood for the fire and then to trust God Himself to ignite it. Our job is to plug people in and then trust God to supply the spiritual current.
This should be comforting and freeing, and in some ways, it is: it is not my responsibility to save anyone (as if I could). And yet the control freak in me dislikes this necessary letting-go. It leaves too much to someone else's will: God's will (perfect though it is) and free will, which can always choose to walk away. I want God's best for the people I love and care about. I want their hearts to be moved toward Him.
But then I hear God's gentle voice: "Don't you think I want that, too? I love them more in one second than you could love them in a lifetime. I love them most, in fact. But this is not a contest. I am already the Victor of every race. You just keep running toward me and invite others to join in along the way, and one day, we will cross the finish line together."
* * * * * *
God, thank You that You still open hearts. Help me to share your message and then trust You to do the saving.
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!