We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.  On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.  A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.  When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.  

Acts 16:11-15

God’s holy word presents some people who are capable of hearing and understanding God’s word, and others who lack that capacity.  Some hear and understand while others do not, and the quality separating the two is God.  God touches some to hear and understand and not others.  So we pray for God to enlighten the eyes of our spirits to see, and our ears to hear, and our minds to understand.  We ask God to reach into our realm and touch us so that we might gain faith and through Christ Jesus gain Him, and we repeat our prayer for those whom God is placing in our path to hear His gospel through us. 

But it all starts with God – our desire to hear, our desire to pray, our desire to know Him … it all starts with God.  Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day” (John 6:44).  And Paul writes, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

God’s holy grace permeates our souls creating the desire within us to know Him, stirs our hearts to wonder, and causes us to ask questions.  But we are responsible for whether we believe.  Jesus says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:17-18).

And here we see the point of intersection of the holy mystery, the interplay between our will and God’s will.  Without God’s holy touch we are deaf, blind and unable to understand, and God showers His holy grace over everyone, liberally sowing seed across every sort of soil.  But His holy grace bounces off many while pricking the heart of some, causing them to wonder, ponder, ask questions and listen to the answers.

God draws us to Him, but most fear the transformation God will cause in their life.  They know what their current life is like, they feel a sense of longing for something more, for something to fill the void in their heart, but they prefer clinging to the false sense of security they find in the inaccurate notion that they are in control of their life.  They wonder and ponder the deep questions of life, their hearts stirred by His holy grace, then they hear the whisper of a different voice, a voice they know so well, and the whispers create fear and doubt in response to God’s draw.  They can repeat the words that God is faithful and trustworthy, but do they believe the words enough to leap into His arms, knowing the leap will transform their lives in ways they cannot imagine?  The whispers tell them that they are in control, that they like to be in control, and that God merely wants to subject them to His control, when, in reality, they are slaves bound by the whisperer’s chains, choosing him and his life over God and the true freedom God offers through Christ Jesus.  The supposed freedom, the freedom people think they enjoy while living apart from God, is only freedom within the confines of their slavery.

Jesus says,

“Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.  The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.  I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word.  I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”  John 8:34-38

There is no place in them for Jesus’ word because they are slaves to sin.  They should do what they hear from the Father, but they do not.  They are speaking to the Son of God, the Christ, the Word, the only sinless One, but they do not hear His message.  Some hear, others do not.  He scatters His holy seed abundantly everywhere, but some soil has been pounded into a hard and lifeless path where the seeds are readily eaten by the evil one.

Paul writes,

Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.  1 Corinthians 2:14

And Jude writes,

But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; for they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.”  It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions.  But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  Jude 17-21

Do you feel God stirring within your heart?  Do you find yourself wondering about Him, pondering important questions, searching for answers?  Ask Him to open your eyes so that you might see, to open your ears to hear, to soften and fertilize your heart so that His holy seed might grow within you, and to discern His people sent to you proclaiming His truth.  He promises that when you seek you will find.

Before Paul arrived, Lydia was already a worshiper of God, so her heart was prepared to receive the message of Christ Jesus, and as Paul spoke, the Lord opened her heart to hear the word of Christ Jesus spoken by Paul, and she immediately responded by asking for more.  She eagerly invited Paul and Luke to stay in her home so that she might learn more about Christ Jesus.  “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17), and her faith grew through hearing the gospel.

May God open your heart to hear, may He enlighten the eyes of your spirit so that you might see, and open your ears that you might hear, and soften your heart that you might receive His holy gift of grace.  Amen.