Barren?

Have you ever wondered why all the matriarch’s were barren? Sarah didn’t have a child until she was 90. Rebekah, Isaac’s wife struggled for a season to have children until her husband interceded and she bore twins. Rachel also was barren for a long time, as she desperately cries out in Genesis 30.
This condition of barrenness would have been a significant trial for these women, for in that time, bearing children was the crowning joy of woman, it indicated success, being in favour with God and also with one’s husband.

Our reading of Galatians recently quotes a unique scripture in Isaiah, “Be glad O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud (for joy….) Galatians 4:27.

Paul strangely urges the barren woman to be excited and shout for joy, just as Isaiah did (Isaiah 54).
What would make a barren woman sing for joy? Of course it would have to be children. Paul sees the upside in the condition of barrenness that would be hard for most to see. Galatians 4:23 indicates that children born naturally or without much trial are simply ordinary, yet those born supernaturally despite a barren condition are God ordained.

Barrenness forces a woman in the bible to turn to God. It brings her to a state of desperation, for out of her utter shame and desolation, having run out of self made options, she is forced to turn to God, and her pain is turned into joy as God miraculously gives her a child.

Are you barren? Do you have dreams that you would like to see happen, but things are not quite there yet? Do you bear the fruit you desire? Are you believing for more in your life or more in your ministry? Learn from the barren woman. Get desperate, and cry out to God. Don’t force things. Seek God’s spirit, and God’s way. And once you begin to bear fruit, ask yourself, is this fruit God ordained or self-ordained? Notice Paul does not just commend fruit in Galatians 4. He commends fruit borne out of a true and total dependency on God.