God’s One-Two Punch

On my list of people for whom I pray, there are a few who worship God but are not believers in Jesus Christ. They pray, go to a place of worship, but have never shown the spiritual fruit of genuine faith.

I’ve made an assumption that these dear folks are most difficult to reach because they seem to assume that they are on a right footing with God. This day, God shows me that I should not make any assumptions. Their spiritual condition is not about what they are doing or not doing, but that nothing is impossible with God.

And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (Acts 16:13–15)

When Paul wrote this, he was in Philippi. This woman, Lydia, lived in Thyatira which was nearly 300 miles away and across the Aegean Sea. Was it a coincidence that she was in Philippi on a river bank with Paul that day? God is good at arranging “coincidences.”He had her where He wanted her to be.

This was a Sabbath day, the Jewish day of worship. She was interested in God and went where prayer was made. While she was not in a “church,” yet she was in some type of relationship with others who prayed. How did this happen? I’ve no idea, but I do know that God excels at putting people in places of grace.

The Lord had a plan for Lydia, and it was about where and when, but more significantly, it concerned her heart. Salvation is not about what we do or where we are, but that our hearts are open to the God who wants to enter our lives. So, the most significant work of the Holy Spirit is that “the Lord opened her heart.”

Lydia did not open her own heart, nor did her prayers do it. Paul did not do it either. This is something only God can do. He alone has the key that unlocks the human heart — that He might gain admittance. As Spurgeon says, He is the heart’s master as well as the heart’s maker.

Lydia heard Paul speak, but she heard more than his words. She heard the word of God preached, and the Bible says this hearing is the avenue for faith.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)

At that point, Lydia believed and Christ entered her heart. The evidence of saving faith and of her changed life is in the passage. First she obeyed the simple command to be baptized. Genuine faith never does this to gain salvation, nor is it forced on anyone. It was a simple act of obedience that shows her heart was listening and responding to the Lord.

The second outward evidence was love for the people of God. She showed grateful kindness to the apostles by offering them hospitality. This love to the people of God has always been a mark of a true conversion, the evidence of someone whose heart has been opened.

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. (1 John 4:8–13)

The story of Lydia encourages me. As I pray for those who are devout and do religious things, yet have no evidence of saving faith, I am assured that God can deliver this one-two punch by putting them in the right place at the right time, and then opening their hearts to hear His Word. Nothing is impossible for God.

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Lord, You again bless me with a simple truth. You are in charge and can draw people to Yourself. You can prepare people to hear Your Word and put their faith in You. However, I need an open heart too, so that this truth permeates my prayers for those who are religious but are very much in need of a saving relationship with You. God, grant open hearts to all of us.