There are four special ladies in the Bible that are barely mentioned, but their impact socks a punch. I’m going to introduce you to these ladies in four separate blogs. They each have a story to tell and something to teach us, and together they pack a wallop!

What’s in a name? When I meet someone new, sometimes I give them an entirely different name than their real name. For instance, my friend Ellen became Wendy for the longest time, Tim became Nick, and another friend’s last name was changed to Pendergast! Where these name associations came from, I have no idea! And it took me the longest time to get their names right.

There are four women in the Bible who are barely mentioned, but God knew their names and He got them right. He mentions their names in the permanency of Scripture so that we will get them right too.

The first one is Dorcas. Now she did have another name, it was Tabitha, meaning “little girl.” Maybe she was small in stature and almost looked like a little girl, the petite kind of woman. Dorcas did good things for the people around her. She especially like to help the widows. Maybe she was one too. We don’t know for sure. The Bible doesn’t tell us. Dorcas made beautiful clothes for the widows in her community.

One day, she got sick and died. The widows put on the beautiful clothes she had made for them and mourned their loss. Some of the men in their group heard that Peter was in a nearby community, so they sent for him. Possibly they knew that Peter had been with Jesus, and possibly they had heard about the great things Peter was doing in his ministry and were hoping that he could do something for Dorcas.

Peter came to the room where they had laid Dorcas, and all the widows were there in their fine clothing mourning the loss of their dear friend who had taken care of them when they were in need. Peter sent them all out of the room and knelt down and prayed. Then, turning to Dorcas he said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, saw Peter and sat up!

Then Peter called the others back into the room. Can you imagine the shouts of joy, the squeals of delight, the hugs and tears of joy that went on in that room? Their excitement didn’t stay in that room. You can imagine in their excitement they told everyone they knew, and even maybe some they didn’t know, about the great miracle that just happened. Their precious friend had died, but now she was alive again!

Many people believed in the Lord because of what He had done for Dorcas in Joppa.

When God works, it’s not for us to keep quiet. It is for us to shout from the rooftops wherever there are people to listen. Remember the shepherds who came to see Jesus born in a stable and lying in a manger? They left that place telling everybody what they had just witnessed. They had been told about Jesus’ birth by a brilliant angel in the sky who was joined with a massive angel choir extolling the great thing that had just happened – a Savior had been born! Then they saw it for themselves and went out to tell everyone they saw.

Here, Dorcas was a simple woman doing what she did best, sewing, for people in need. Then God did a great thing in her life and, not only she, but everyone who witnessed it went out to tell others of the greatness of God.

What would this world be like if everyone was more willing to shout out the greatness of God? We all have great things happening in our lives. Are we willing to spread it abroad to tell of God’s greatness?