Daily Devotional - Open the Way

And when she [Lydia] was baptized along with her household, she earnestly entreated us, saying, If in your opinion I am one really convinced [that Jesus is the Messiah and the Author of salvation] and that I will be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. And she induced us [to do it].
—Acts 16:15

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875–1955) was one of the most remarkable black women of her time. A graduate of Moody Bible Institute, she opened a school for black girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. From 1935–1944 she was a special advisor on minority affairs to President Franklin Roosevelt. She was the first black woman to head a federal agency and worked to see that blacks were integrated into the military. She also served as a consultant on interracial affairs at the charter conference of the United Nations. Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women and was director of Negro Affairs for the National Youth Administration. The fifteenth of seventeen children born to slave parents, she came to have unrestricted access to the White House during Roosevelt’s life.

I admire those who are the first to do anything because the one who goes first endures more opposition than those who follow later. They are pioneers, and they open the way and pay the price for future generations.

Lord, Lydia opened her door to help Paul and those traveling with him, and I can open the way for others as well. Help me to be practical and take advantage of every opportunity to make a difference. Amen.