Acts 16 Devotional

Closed Roads and Opened Hearts

“Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.”Acts 16:14 (BSB)

Paul and his companions try to preach in Asia and then in Bithynia, and both times the Spirit stops them (16:6-7). Then, in a night vision, a man of Macedonia begs Paul to come and help, and they conclude that God is calling them there (16:9-10). The closed doors were God's guidance too.

In Philippi, God's work is told simply. A businesswoman named Lydia listens by the river, and the Lord opens her heart so that she receives Paul's message (16:14). A slave girl exploited by her owners is set free from a spirit in Jesus' name (16:18). And after Paul and Silas are beaten and locked in stocks, an earthquake at midnight shakes the prison open, and a jailer who was about to take his own life asks how he can be saved. They point him to the Lord Jesus and tell him to trust in him (16:25-31). Three very different people, and one Lord who reaches each of them. Whether he is closing a road or opening a heart, he is not idle.

To think about: What closed door in your life could you begin to trust as part of God's guidance rather than a failure?