In the Ordinary

I didn’t get this posted on July 31st like intended. Life has been chaotic and messy but so much fun. And I’ll have to add more to this post later but I this is me holding myself accountable to writing a blog post for July. Well life didn't slow down. And I'm just now getting around to finishing this post. It's November if you're wondering. My life has had some of the hardest most beautiful changes in it lately. If I'm being honest I'm struggling. I don' know about you but when I make promises to myself that I don't keep I feel like a complete failure. I've been feeling that way a lot these past few months because I just can't seem to accomplish all the things I want to. And then on top of that manage to have a personal life. Slowly but surely I'm learning to have grace with myself, especially went I have to chose done over perfect.

As I was looking through my notes from July I found a note from July 29th. I had the privilege to teach at a women's bible study one Tuesday night in July. I love getting to research and share things that I have learned (that's been one of my favorite things about teaching the Children and the Youth at St Mary's). We were doing a series on women in the Bible. The woman I chose to teach about was Lydia. Lydia is only mentioned briefly in the book of Acts but when you look at her story more in depth I realized how God uses ordinary people. Lets look at Acts Chapter 16

"9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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."

Sometimes individual stories of women in the Bible seem kind of insignificant. If you read the book of Acts you might get so caught up in the story of Paul and Silas that you didn't even remember the part about Lydia. If you look at the big picture and you can see that God has intentionally designed the Bible to  break culture and norms of women so that it can stand on its own.

Women weren't seen as equals during the time of the Bible.

Jewish men did not speak to women.

Women did not receive theological teaching with other men.

The Rabbis did not use women as positive illustrations in their teachings.

Touching women was forbidden and scandalous. Women were publicly ridiculed for their sin. Men could go privately before a judge but women were sometimes stoned before a crowd.

Women were viewed as less than and inferior to men.

And women’s testimonies were not credible in court.

The story of Lydia is different. She is the first female convert that Paul encountered. God desires for Men and women alike to be saved. Verse 14 says “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after that she was baptized, and her household as well” And entire generation of children was saved because God chose one women’s heart.

If we jump down to vs 40 after Paul and Silas break out of prison it says they visited Lydia. Lydia’s house became a gathering  place for Christian’s. It says in verse 14 that she is a seller of purple goods which was not only considered an honest job but it was also a very well paid job too. Lydia was using her home and her resources to honor God and bring people closer together through community. If you look at her story you can see she helped build the foundation of the modern Christian church. If you jump down to vs 40 you see that after Paul and Silas got out of prison they went and visited Lydia. It makes it that much more beautiful to see Gods hand on it all. Because it wasn’t like she quit her job or gave up her whole life. She was used by God right where she was at. And continued in ministry after Paul and Silas left. They knew that. That’s why they went back to her house after prison.

Not every Christian has to be a missionary or a worship leader to be used in the kingdom of God. God used Lydia in the ordinary. He didn’t change her whole life upside down, he just asked her to share his love, open her heart and open her home serve right where she was at. Which is what we need to be doing. That’s something that I’ve been reminding myself of in this season. I’ve been on missions and I’ve shared the gospel and knocked on doors and went into the unknown but I’m also called to do that very same thing here. This is a nation too. This is the unreached too. And I should strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus right here.

My life is chaotic and beautiful and fun and even though I feel like I’m failing if God is using me in the ordinary then it’s His strength that can shine through my weakness. I don’t have to feel like a failure because I didn’t accomplish what I wanted, as long as I accomplish what He wanted.