You’re Invited: How God Uses Ordinary People
Have you ever wondered whether God could actually use you?
Maybe you’ve made mistakes you think disqualify you. Maybe you’re too young, or too busy, or you’ve already got your life planned out. Maybe you just think ministry is for the “spiritual professionals.”
Acts 15 and 16 tell a different story. In these two chapters we watch the Holy Spirit invite one person after another into what He’s doing: a guy who failed, a teenager, a doctor with big career plans, and a businesswoman. Each invitation looks different.
So let’s look at how He does it, because I think it says a lot about how He may be inviting you today.
IT STARTS WITH GOING BACK
Just before this passage, the early church settled one of the most important questions in the New Testament. Some believers were teaching that salvation was Jesus + circumcision + keeping the law of Moses.
The apostles said no. The gospel is Faith in Jesus + Nothing = Salvation.
That fight is never fully settled in our hearts, though. We start with grace, but over time our flesh and the enemy pull us back toward our own efforts, the things we cling to so we can feel justified before God.
So Paul has an idea:
“Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, ‘Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.’” (Acts 15:36)
Paul knew new believers would need ongoing encouragement, so he wanted to go back, check in, strengthen them, and remind them of all they have in Christ.
The Spirit still works this way. When God uses you to impact someone’s life, it rarely stops at one conversation. He often calls you to keep checking in, keep encouraging, and keep pointing them back to grace.
But then something surprising happens.
WHEN GODLY PEOPLE DISAGREE
“Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.” (Acts 15:37–40)
Here’s the backstory. John Mark started out with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but back in Acts 13 he bailed and went home to Jerusalem.
Barnabas, who was Mark’s cousin and whose name means “Son of Encouragement,” basically says, “Let’s give him another chance. He’s learned his lesson. Isn’t that what grace is all about?”
Paul says, “No way. This guy deserted us. I’m all for grace, but this journey is hard. We’re going to suffer. We can’t have people flaking out on us.”
So who was wrong?
Honestly, probably neither of them.
You’ve got two different personalities here: a people person and a type A, get-it-done leader. And the Spirit was working through both of them.
Through Paul, the Spirit seems to be telling Mark, “This kind of missionary work isn’t for you, or at least not yet. You need more time.”
Through Barnabas, the Spirit is saying, “I’m not done with you. I still have a plan to use you in My Kingdom work, even though you messed up.”
God is in the redemption business. Sometimes our mistakes carry ongoing consequences and close certain doors. But that never means God is finished with us.
And look at what God did through the disagreement. Instead of one missionary team, there were now two, reaching even more people. Mark was back in the game, and Silas was invited into something bigger than he had ever been part of.
A YOUNG MAN AND A SURPRISING DECISION
“Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:1–3)
Here’s another invitation, and this time to someone young.
You might be scratching your head over the circumcision part, since the church had just declared it wasn’t necessary.
But it wasn’t necessary for salvation. Paul knew Timothy’s uncircumcised status would be a barrier for the Jewish people they were trying to reach, so he removed it.
That shows us something important. Sometimes the Spirit will lead us to set aside a freedom we have in Christ, not because we need it for salvation, but because it might be a barrier to someone else hearing the gospel.
And what happened as they traveled?
“As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.” (Acts 16:4–5)
The message of grace, Faith in Jesus + Nothing = Everything, strengthened the believers who heard it again and drew in brand new believers who became new creations in Christ.
Grace always does both.
WHEN THE SPIRIT SHUTS THE DOOR
“Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” (Acts 16:6–7)
I hear a lot of people blame Satan every time a door shuts. “The enemy is keeping me from what God has for me!”
Sometimes that’s true.
But this passage shows us that sometimes it’s the Holy Spirit who shuts the door.
Look at what Paul was trying to do. These were good things. Jesus told them to make disciples of all nations and take the gospel to the ends of the earth. That’s exactly what they were attempting, and God said no.
Sometimes God closes doors in our lives, and we simply have to trust Him. He sees from a perspective we don’t have, and He has good reasons for what He’s doing.
As we’ll see in a minute, God did have a plan to reach that region of Asia. In this case it was “not never, just not now.”
A VISION, A CONVERSATION, AND A NEW TEAMMATE
“During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:9–10)
God speaks to Paul in a vision but notice the word concluding. It seems Paul talked it over with his team, and together they recognized what the Lord was saying.
That’s a good word for us. When you sense the Spirit leading you somewhere, seek godly counsel and let other believers help confirm it. I’ve watched people make sinful choices while insisting God was leading them. Godly counsel helps protect us from that.
There’s something else hiding in verse 10. Did you catch it?
The pronoun changes from “they” to “we.”
Luke, the author of Acts, has been describing Paul, Silas, and Timothy as “they.” Now, in Troas, he writes “us.” This is where Luke joins the team.
We aren’t told how he came to faith but notice how he describes himself: “God had called us to preach the gospel.” Luke not only became a believer, but he also became part of the mission.
Picture Luke’s ten-year plan: finish training, build a successful practice, make good money, and retire comfortably.
Then God gives him new life in Christ and says, “I’m going to use your skills on a new journey. You’ll help people with a message that changes their lives forever, not just temporarily through medicine. And I’m going to use you to write part of the New Testament.”
That’s how quickly God can redirect a life, for our good and His glory.
So, write your plans in pencil, not ink. God has great plans for your life, and He reveals them in His perfect timing.
A BUSINESSWOMAN AND AN OPEN HOME
The team sails on to Philippi, a city you might recognize because Paul later wrote a letter to the church there. Here we get to see how that church began.
“On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.” (Acts 16:13–14)
Notice where Lydia was from: Thyatira, in the very region of Asia the Spirit had just kept Paul from entering.
Maybe that was part of the plan all along. God would reach someone from that region who could carry the gospel back home to people she knew, who would then tell others, and on and on.
Thyatira was known for its purple dye, which was highly sought after and very expensive. So, Lydia was a successful, wealthy businesswoman. She was a Gentile “worshiper of God,” someone who believed in the God of Israel but didn’t yet know about Jesus and what He had done for her.
Then we’re told, “The Lord opened her heart.”
He revealed the truth that Faith in Jesus + Nothing = Everything, and she responded in faith. She became a new creation, spiritually alive, with eternal life.
And right away the Spirit invited her into His Kingdom work:
“When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord,’ she said, ‘come and stay at my house.’ And she persuaded us.” (Acts 16:15)
Lydia went home and told everyone in her household, likely family, servants, and maybe people connected to her business. They responded in faith too and were baptized, showing that their old sinful nature had died and they had been raised to new life in Christ.
Then her house became the gathering place for the church at Philippi.
God saved Lydia, used her to reach the people in her sphere of influence, and turned her home into a place where the church could worship, pray, and invite others to hear the gospel.
SO WHAT IS HE INVITING YOU INTO?
Look at everyone God invited into His work in just these few verses:
John Mark, who failed and got a second chance.
Silas, who went from regional ministry to global missions.
Timothy, a young believer in whom Paul saw great potential.
Luke, a doctor who would carry the gospel around the world and write a Gospel and the book of Acts.
Lydia, a businesswoman whose whole household came to faith and whose home became a church.
Here’s what that means for you today:
If you’ve received the life of the Spirit, He is inviting you in some way to be part of the advancement of the gospel.
Maybe you’re like John Mark. You started down a path of serving God, but you messed up and it derailed you. That doesn’t mean the Spirit is done with you. He may have shut that door, but He will open another. The enemy wants to keep you stuck in shame over the past, but the Spirit is saying, “I’m not through with you yet.”
Maybe you’re like Luke. You’re on a career path, chasing goals and achievement, believing that the right salary or title is what will finally bring you joy and purpose. God is saying, “I have even better plans for you. I want to take your skills and use them to bring healing that lasts for eternity.”
Maybe you’re like Timothy. You’re young, and you’re wondering what God could possibly want with a teenager or a college student. He wants to work through you now:
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)
Or maybe you’re like Lydia. The Spirit may be inviting you to use your home or your resources for His Kingdom. And maybe He’s saying, “I want to reach your family, your coworkers, your neighbor, the person who cuts your hair, or your trainer at the gym, and I want to do it through you.”
IT’S ALL A WORK OF HIS GRACE
Notice the order. None of these people earned their invitation. God saved each of them by His grace first.
That’s how it works for us too. God saves us and changes our lives by His grace. He gives us every spiritual blessing and abundant life, and He meets all our needs so we don’t have to keep chasing the things of this world.
Once we’re free from that, by His grace, He works through us to advance His Kingdom and impact others for eternity.
If you’ve never received that grace, it’s available to you right now. You don’t have to clean yourself up or prove you’re good enough. Faith in Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Simply trust Him for the forgiveness and new life He offers, and you will be made a new creation.
And if you already know Him, take a moment today to ask:
Lord, what are You inviting me into?
Then listen, trust, and respond in faith.
