Lydia

If I were to have a fifth daughter, I'd be lobbying for the name of Lydia. I'm already incredibly rich: the marvelous Katie who grew up in our house, the amazing Laura who came into our family as Toby's wife, the sweet Virginia who joined us for a year as a foreign exchange student from Argentina, and the beautiful Stephanie who awaits us in heaven. So, greedy dad, you might ask, why a Lydia?

The visiting preacher this past Sunday brought back to mind Lydia of Philippi. She was the Lear Jet dealer in her region. She owned the Bentley/Ferrari/Lamborghini franchise in her town. Well, IF they had these very exclusive 'things' back in her day... She WAS the seller of purple dye (a dealer in expensive textiles, says The Message) in Macedonia then, sort of the equivalent of a Lear or a Lamborghini, if you get my drift. But from the perspective of history, she was SO MUCH MORE! I would posit that if you are a Christian today or if you live in a western culture that has its roots in Christianity, you owe a huge debt to Lydia. You see, she was a lady who also knew how to pray--even before she became a believer herself. She is down by the riverside on that Jewish sabbath day when Paul came to town and joined the prayer meeting. She listened intently to what he had to say, and the Master opened her heart and she became a believer.

So, what's the big deal? Just consider: this little apostle is here at this moment in time because Lydia has been praying. I'm thinking it was her prayer that led the man of Macedonia to appear in Paul's dream with the plea--"Come over and help us!" When Paul knew that God was in this vision, he got his team together and headed out to help, and he crossed the Dardanelles. (In modern Turkey, I've stood there, looking across that narrow waterway that separates Europe from Asia.) Paul crossed into Europe from Asia. Look it up yourself. Think about it. The Gospel came to Europe--and from there to here--and from here to so many other places--because of the influence, in part, of a lady named Lydia.

And this Lydia became a pillar of the church at Philippi, perhaps the greatest of the New Testament churches. She, along with the man from Macedonia, a certain slave girl, and a very famous jailer, forms the core of a very successful church about which hardly anything negative can be said. Pretty amazing, don't you think? A single woman, a successful business person, a praying woman, a manager and leader of her household, a hospitable and generous lady...

Names come and names go, but Lydia is one for all the ages. It carries the hope of spiritual influence, the expectation of indisputable success, and the dream of eternal impact. Since I'm no Abraham and the lovely Suzann is no Sarah, we won't have any more daughters, but hey, who knows what God may be up to when the next Lydia crosses our path? And yours, too!