Walking Among Them: Lydia

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The object of this study is to take some time out of our busy, often chaotic days and spend some time with women who have gone before us. Not just any women, but 26 women of the Bible. We’ll “Walk Among Them” and see how their stories relate to our lives. It’s my hope that we will discover God’s presence and grace in our own lives as the lives and lessons of these women unfold before us this year.

Walking Among Them, Lydia

Faithful witness and a woman with the gift of hospitality. That is what she was. Lydia.

As we have come to realize with these women we’ve had the privilege of walking with this year, we do not know much about them. What God does reveal about them is all we need to know. Lydia will be no different. She is a Gentile woman originally from a town named Thyatira. Lydia was not her real name, but rather the name of the town in which she lived. She was as we know according to the Book of Acts that she was a “merchant of expensive purple cloth, who worshipped God.” (Acts 16:14) We are told in Acts 16 that when Paul “went to the riverbank, where he thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who gathered there,” (Acts 16:13) he encountered a woman who “listened and the Lord opened her heart and she accepted what Paul was saying.”  This woman was baptized and she asked Paul to be one of her guests. This was the woman who has come to be known 2,000 years later as Lydia.

Lydia was a businesswoman who dealt with “purple cloth.” Purple was the color of the cloth that royalty wore and she was likely one of the women who was given the formula to “dye” the cloth. The cloth was produced from the shellfish in the area and the cloth was a commercial product and she was likely successful and may have had servants under her. We have no way of knowing if she was married, widowed or single but we do know that she will be remembered for her legendary hospitality.

While few things are certain, we can know that Lydia easily could have found ‘excuses’ NOT to open her home up to Paul. We like to think of our busy lives as something new, but if we look back on generations gone by, they were just as busy as we were. Here was a woman who was in the throes of a business and easily could have thought up ways NOT  to serve, and yet on the contrary, this is precisely what she is remembered for.

What’s our excuse?

Lydia opened her home up to Paul. What if she had just been too busy, or preoccupied to notice that this was God’s will for her? How many opportunities do we miss simply because we aren’t looking for them?

With each woman that we study, I’ll have some thoughts and ideas for reflection, meditation and journaling that will be called “Reflections from the Walk.” It’s in Walking Among Them that we can learn lessons that we can take with us on our daily walks.

Reflections from the walk:

As we walk this week with Lydia, we take away many practical lessons. This week as you reflect on our walk with Lydia, ponder these questions and ideas.

Consider this quote:

“Hospitality is becoming an almost forgotten Christian virtue in our style of life today…In the New Testament, however, hospitality was a distinctive mark of Christians and Christian communities.”
~Alexander Strauch
from The Hospitality Commands~

Have you taken time to cultivate your spirit of hospitality? As Christian women, we are called to be hospitable; it is a mark of the Christian community. Ponder the quote above and perhaps there will be an idea below that speaks to your heart of hospitality as we remember our walk with Lydia.

Alexander Stauch has a very practical list on ways that we can incorporate hospitality into our lives. Many of the ideas are ones that we KNOW, but we often need the reminder to inspire us along the way. The ideas below were inspired by the ideas of Alexander Stauch in his book, The Hospitality Commands. As I read through his ideas, I reflected and added a few practical ideas  that will hopefully inspire the women who are walking with Lydia.

Plan ahead.
Lydia was a busy gal without the luxury of our modern day appliances to help her. She did not let her busyness become her excuse.

Make a list of people who might be encouraged by your hospitality and start here.

Often we don’t offer hospitality because we doubt our own qualifications. Be encouraged, YOU are qualified in Christ. Consider your gifts and talents. What are you particularly good at? Do you bake a wonderful cake, or a mean cup of coffee, or do you have an extra bedroom? Each of these can serve as the portal in which hospitality can walk through.

Start with your neighbors in using hospitality as an outreach.

They are often the nearest to us and the ones we forget the most. They are in need of hospitality in a hurting and hurried world.

Don’t forget the holiday season as they are difficult times for many.

Think of ways that you can extend a hand of hospitality to someone who is having a challenging time as the holidays approach.

Collect and file simple and inexpensive recipe ideas.

Remove the excuse of expense. Bread can be baked for pennies and a homemade card or an hour of your time cost little or nothing but time. I once received a jar filled with purple buttons and baubles and trinkets with a reminder to “let my purple show.” This easily could be written on a card to encourage others to engage in hospitality.

Be interested in people’s lives.

Learn key questions for meaningful conversation. It’s becoming a lost art really. Lydia listened to Paul and she was forever changed. Spend time simply listening to someone. We often forget that this too is a form of hospitality.

Pray that God would give you joy in serving.

As hard as it may be, we need to look inward at the reasons why we are not allowing the gift of hospitality become evident in our lives.   We need to be willing to look at the selfishness, pride and disobedience that exist in our hearts and are often what hinder us from opening ourselves up to others. We have no excuses and prayer is the only way that we often see through the pride that stops us short.

Simple things really…

Hospitality has never been complicated, we complicate hospitality.

Going into God’s word is the best way to reflect on a spirit of hospitality. Perhaps writing, journaling or doodling these verses will be a reminder to you this week.

Another simple way to reflect on hospitality and serving others is to include these verses on your correspondence this week or in the gifts or recipes you choose to share with others.

“Rather, serve one another in love”
Galatians 5:13

“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

Lydia was busy, and yet she found time to listen to Paul and open her home to those who needed rest. She was able to offer her home and her heart to those around her. Wouldn’t we all like to be remembered for these values?

Let us pray that as we spend time “walking with Lydia” that we pray the words we read in verse 14 of Acts 16, “The Lord opened her heart to respond.” Lord, open my heart such that I may live in the spirit of Lydia and not merely see, but respond.

A PDF version of this study is available here.

Lori is a 6th year homeschool mom to 3. Currently she homeschools a 9th grader, a 7th grader and a 5th grader. Lori hopes to impart peace and inspiration amidst the daily chaos. It’s in the daily details of life that she is continually inspired! Be sure to visit her blog at All You Have to Give and at Internet Cafe Devotions.