Be Glad, Barren Woman!

2/20/1993

It always just puzzled me because it said, “Be GLAD”. It’s like, it’s a good thing, it’s a good thing to be barren. And I didn’t really know quite what He was getting at. But it brings so much peace, then. Because there’s not the trying to make it all work. You have to depend on God. There’s no other way to do it. You can rejoice in this. When you have nothing and you are nothing, and your seed is dying and falling to the ground. It’s a paradox—be GLAD that you’re barren.

Keep in mind that there’s no chapter breaks in the Hebrew or the Greek. He was talking about Yeshua, His Son, the Suffering Servant, as He is referred to. And then He said, “Now this applies to you, barren woman. Because I can do this for my Son. Because I can make His offspring numerous and show Him the light of life. As He has made Himself nothing, as He has accepted My will…Even being rejected by Me—even accepting my rejection and trusting Me—even in what seems to be rejection—totally trusting Me even in that terrible moment…of seeming to be rejected by God Himself, because He trusted me that much and didn’t need anything from Me—I let Him see the light of life. I made His offspring as numerous as the sands on the seashore. And you too, oh barren woman—you too can sing and be glad because that’s how I am, saith the Lord.

That’s why it’s right after that. And that’s why Paul quoted that to the church that was struggling with the issue of trying to do good works for God and striving for that and grabbing Hagar in order to do it. Trying to make their own way using their own means and methods rather than being on their face before God. And being willing to suffer the humiliation of not being anybody, not keeping up with the Jones, not doing things the way people think they ought to. Not being able to compete with the Temple of Diana. “We don’t even have a building. The Temple of Diana. How can we try and talk to people out of going to church their—we don’t even have a church building.” There was a humiliation that was suffered by people that are living in a neither here nor there Kingdom. They can’t point to themselves, they can’t “show” anything on the outside—just the inner beauty of an adorned life with the Spirit of God. That’s all they have. They can’t “show” any demonstration of assets or accomplishments and yet they can stand with a quiet heart and a firmness and a confidence before God and man, and shine like stars in the universe because they are not afraid.

That’s the thing God is doing in us, in all of His people.