The Power of Showing Up: How God Uses Ordinary Faithfulness
Does showing up in ordinary moments really matter? Lydia’s story in Acts 16 reveals how God uses simple faithfulness to accomplish eternal purposes.
Some moments in Scripture seem almost insignificant at first. Then you realize they changed everything.
This is how I feel about Lydia. Lydia was a businesswoman from Thyatira, and we can conclude she was either single or widowed since Scripture does not mention her husband. She appears as a successful, independent woman who sold cloth treated with an expensive purple dye. The fabric was used to make clothing for royalty and other wealthy people. Lydia was likely a woman of influence in a culture dominated by men.
God Works Through Ordinary Moments
The Lord leads Paul to this group of women praying by a river. Lydia is there among them, a religious woman and worshiper of God. Though the women are praying, something is missing. They still need Christ, the Messiah.
And then Paul and his friends show up.
I love the simplicity of Luke’s description. “We sat down and spoke to the women who had come together” (Acts 16:13). Nothing in this sentence sounds flashy. It is ordinary and easy to miss, yet heaven was at work in that ordinary moment.
This is one reason Lydia’s story matters so much to me. God often works through the steady faithfulness of showing up. I share many stories in my book, Treasures of Encouragement, of how people just showed up when we lost our son, Mark. No doubt many came fearful of saying or doing the wrong thing, yet they came anyway. Many sat down and waited quietly until we needed to talk, their presence giving us a safe place to process our grief. Meals, cards with handwritten messages, phone calls, interacting with our young adult children, holding us while we wept. Such acts may have seemed insignificant to those reaching out, but each one helped turn our hearts toward Jesus. The little things are often the big things.
What about in our own spiritual walks? We all know how easy it is to drift. We get tired or discouraged. We grow busy. Eventually, it becomes easy to miss Bible study, to pull back from worship, and step away from the very people God may use to strengthen us. We tell ourselves we will go next week and make time when life settles down. Perhaps we need to think again and consider that later might not be an effective spiritual strategy.
Lydia showed up at the place of prayer. She placed herself where God’s Word would be spoken. Then Acts 16:14 tells us what she could never have done for herself. “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” This phrase is full of hope.
If you have ever sat in worship feeling distracted, opened your Bible with a weary heart, or ever wondered whether anything is happening in your soul, remember Lydia. The Lord opens hearts. He opens them in joyful seasons and sorrowful ones. He opens them in crowded sanctuaries and quiet living rooms, when we feel eager and when we feel numb.
Hospitality Flows from Grace
Lydia responded to grace, and something tangible happened — visible obedience. She and her household were baptized (Acts 16:15), and she publicly identified with Christ and His people. Then she did something else. She opened her home.
I love this part of her story because it reminds us that hospitality is not about the size of a house. It is about the posture of the heart. Lydia’s invitation to Paul’s entourage comes from a transformed heart:
If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.
Acts 16:15
She did not merely receive the gospel; she made room for its fruit in her life and the lives of others. Grace compelled her to offer her heart and home. How could they say no?
Small Beginnings, Eternal Impact
God used her open heart to create an open home, and through that home, He built a church.
Years later, when Paul wrote Philippians, Lydia’s name does not appear on the page.
Yet I cannot help thinking her fingerprints are everywhere. You hear it in Paul’s gratitude when he thanks them for their “partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:5). “From the first day” is pregnant with meaning and memories for the Philippians. I especially love how Paul is reminding them of their roots, the first day at the river where everything started. He reminds them of the people on whose shoulders they stand, the ones who came before them in this church plant.
You hear it again in Paul’s confidence. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6). God began something beautiful in Lydia, and He continued that work through a whole community of believers.
Please do not miss the encouragement here. You may feel like one woman in a small group and wonder whether your quiet faithfulness matters. You may think, “My gifts are so ordinary, my life too small, my opportunities to serve effectively — wait, what opportunities?”
Yet God loves and uses beginnings like Lydia’s. He delights in taking what seems small and using it for His glory. Who knew a woman by a river, a home opened in hospitality, and a life surrendered in ordinary obedience could have such an eternal impact? God knew! These are the very places where God often builds something lasting.
Perhaps you are someone’s Lydia in your family, church, neighborhood, or your circle of friends. Your presence and faithfulness matter. Your willingness to show up matters more than you know. It matters, not because you are the Savior, but because the Savior loves to work through ordinary people who make room for Him.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Choose one Lydia practice this week. Show up where God’s Word is taught. Open your home, or simply open your heart, to someone who needs Christian fellowship and friendship. Speak a simple word about Jesus to someone who needs hope.
You may not see the full ripple effect in this life. Still, you can trust Philippians 1:6. God always finishes what He starts.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for Lydia and for the way You build Your church through quiet faithfulness. Open my heart again to Your Word. Keep me from drifting away from the people and places where You nourish faith. Make me generous with my time, home, attention, and love. Use my small obedience to bless others, and let the fingerprints of Christ be all over my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Are there other women in your life who could benefit from a daily dose of encouragement? Forward this email so they can click on this link to Subscribe to Daily Treasure to be better equipped to walk by faith on the pathway God has marked out for them.
Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.
