OPINION —
Older music lovers will remember when the songs of Peter, Paul and Mary were popular. Three of my New Testament heroes are Peter, Paul and Lydia. Men like Peter and Paul were major players in church history but women, like Lydia, have made a significant difference in the expansion of the Christian faith not as “stars” but as ordinary disciples of Jesus.
Luke tells the story of Lydia in the Acts of the Apostles (16:11-15). She was the first convert to Christianity in Europe. When Paul and his missions team arrived in Philippi, they went outside the city to a place down by the riverside where Lydia and other women had gathered to worship. Though Lydia worshiped God, she had not heard the good news about Jesus. When Paul began speaking about his Lord Jesus, the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to respond to Paul’s message. This resulted in her baptism along with all members of her household. Her home became a place of prayer where the church at Philippi was born.
Since God opened Lydia’s heart in the First Century, he has opened the hearts of thousands of women who have helped fulfill the Great Commission. Some of the greatest of these are not as well-known as others. Catherine of Siena (in Italy) was a medieval mystic who was born in 1347 and died in 1380. Kreg Yingst tells us that Catherine “had a vision in which Jesus offered her two crowns: one made of gold, representing material wealth in this life, and one of thorns, for eternal riches. She chose the latter.”* Yingst describes what happened when God opened Catherine’s heart:
“Catherine often visited the sick and the poor. She ran not away from suffering but toward it. She lived quietly, and she sometimes gave away her family’s clothing and food to those in need — all without asking her family. Her life would be defined by suffering but also by joy.” Though like Christ, she lived only 33 years, she was later declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church which celebrated her work with the poor and her profound writing, which included “The Dialogue of Divine Providence.”
Millions are familiar with the awesome woman, Mother Teresa of the 20th century, but few are acquainted with Saint Teresa of Avila (in Spain). She was one of the brightest lights of Christendom during the 16th century. Choosing to become a nun at an early age, Teresa was responsible for significant reform in the Carmelite Order. She founded 16 convents despite opposition and persecution. Teresa wrote four excellent books, the greatest being “The Interior Castle,” which is today a Christian classic. In this book she pictures the human soul as a beautiful castle, “made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal,” with many rooms. She describes the methods whereby one may move from one room to another in the search for an authentic fellowship with God. Many continue to find “The Interior Castle,” a book written in 1577, a remarkable spiritual guide to a deeper life with Christ.
The beloved Teresa of our time was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun, known to the world as Mother Teresa. After the Lord opened her heart, she founded the Missionaries of Charity and dedicated her life to serving the poor. Her work with the destitute in Calcutta earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She left home to become a nun at 18 and never saw her mother or sister again. The Communist ruler of Albania refused to allow her to re-enter the country.
One of the most famous American women whose heart God opened was the songwriter, Fanny Crosby. Born March 24, 1820, she spent her life writing 8,000 hymns and serving the poor in mission work. Though blind from early childhood, she refused to feel sorry for herself and had memorized the four gospels by age 15. Even into her 90s you would find her daily serving the poor in soup kitchens in New York City.
Another amazing woman whose heart God opened was the Dutch watchmaker, Corrie Ten Boom. During the Holocaust in World War II, Corrie and her family helped more than 800 Jewish people escape from the Nazis by hiding them in her home.
Finally, they were caught and arrested and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. In her famous book, The Hiding Place, she recounts how her sister Betsie died there, though Corrie survived until the camp was liberated by American forces. In the years that followed, until her death in 1983, Corrie shared her touching story of God’s grace around the world.
Having begun this story of women whose hearts God opened with the story of Lydia, I want you to see Lydia as an example of how God opens the hearts of many women who do not become famous. Though we love the inspiring stories of famous people like Mother Teresa and Corrie Ten Boom, the truth is that God changes the hearts of thousands of women, and men, so they may serve Christ faithfully in the ordinary ventures of life.
Lydia was a successful businesswoman, “a dealer in purple cloth” from Thyatira, a city known for its dyeing trade. Purple cloth was a luxury item for the wealthy and elite, so Lydia was probably a woman of significant means and influence. But she did nothing spectacular. She simply led her entire family to faith in Christ and opened her home as a place of prayer so God could begin the first Christian church in Europe there.
No hospital or college has been named in Lydia’s honor. She was never made a saint by the church. She wrote no books that became spiritual guides for believers. No, what Lydia did not make headlines. She simply became a staunch servant of Jesus and influenced others to follow and serve Jesus.
The Lord continues to open the hearts of women, and men, inviting them to respond as Lydia did to the good news about Jesus. Our world needs more people like Lydia, especially women, who will surrender to Jesus and begin using their resources and their homes to welcome people into the Kingdom.
If the Lord has not already opened your heart, the finest thing you could do right now is to kneel and pray, “Lord, please open my heart to the good news about Jesus so I can be numbered with those whose hearts you have opened. I don’t want to be famous; I just want to serve you in ordinary ways as an authentic servant of Jesus.”
*“Everything Could Be a Prayer, 100 Portraits of Saints and Mystics,” published in 2024 by Broadleaf Books.
