Acts chapter 16 verses 36-43

The last of our meditations this week on women who have illuminated the pages of the Bible during spiritually dark days, leads us to Philippi, a city in the Roman Empire. The incident is set against a dramatic background. Paul, one of the apostles, had a thrilling vision in the night. A man from Macedonia appeared and said to him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’, Acts chapter 16 verse 9. Paul responded positively and sailed to Philippi, which was a colony and the foremost city in that part of Macedonia. Sadly, however, the outlook for the preaching of the Christian gospel did not look very promising. When Paul arrived, the man he had seen in the vision was not there to meet him and all he found was a group of women praying by the river-side. However, we should never underestimate the great things that God can do from small beginnings.

Paul and his traveling companions sat down by the river-side with the women who met there for prayer. A woman called LYDIA, who was a seller of purple, overheard their conversation about spiritual matters and, miraculously, ‘the Lord opened her heart to heed (believe / accept} the things spoken by Paul’, Acts chapter 16 verse 14. From this one woman’s conversion to Christianity, the message of the gospel spread throughout Europe and thousands trusted Jesus as their Saviour.

You may be interested to know that from small beginnings, this particular Hope4Bath website has drawn in thousands of readers from numerous countries across the world. Our prayer is that many will have been blessed by joining in with us. Lydia found salvation through simply listening in to the discussions of a small group of women.