Sing O Barren Woman

Sing, O barren one who did not bear;
burst into song and shout,
you who have not been in labour!
For the children of the desolate woman will be more
than the children of her that is married, says the Lord. Isaiah 54:1 

As a single woman who believes in sex only during marriage, having my own children may never happen for me. Honestly, I don't mind not being married, I'm really independent. But I'd love to have those relationships... wife, mother, which are going to be difficult.

Western society has put tons of emphasis on sex. I feel like sex and gender and roles and everything just bombard me everyday. Not having sex somehow makes me less of an adult. Whatevs...

But in biblical times, in those cultures, sex was a means to have children. Being barren, not having children was a woman's true disgrace. I know some women with fertility issues struggle with this, but that's not what this post is about really. Yes, because of my beliefs I may never be able to have my own children. But there's hope for me. I do not have to  be desolate even if I don't have my own children...


Nowadays, single women of certain means have the opportunity to adopt children... lucky me. I have always wanted to adopt and maybe one day that will happen for me. But even this isn't necessarily what Isaiah was talking about in this verse. He's talking about spiritual children.

If I don't get the blessing of a family and my own children, I am still full of love. I can spread that motherly, sisterly love all over my friends' children and my siblings' children, and the children I teach, and kids I meet, and people I meet.

do not hold back; lengthen your cords
and strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left,
and your descendants will possess the nations
and will settle the desolate towns.
Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace;
for you will forget the shame of your youth,
and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.
For your Maker is your husband,
the Lord of hosts is his name;
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
the God of the whole earth he is called.
For the Lord has called you (2-6)

I believe Isaiah is talking about spiritual influence... mentoring... counselling... teaching. As Donald Miller said, "If someone loves us... they will make us who we are." And I get to do that with a lot of people. I get to love them with God's love, with crazy, hyper, spazzy Jenny-love oozing with the Holy Spirit.

So let's take a step back and make this bigger... what if this passage isn't just about women, or single women, or barren women, but about the church? The section header reads it's "God's everlasting covenant of peace." 

Ok, so besides single women now having meaning in society, God is going to take us (the church/ men & women) from a state of what was then considered "uselessness" and give us meaning and purpose. I'm sure we've all felt that there were times where we could be more "successful" or "productive" or "popular" if we smudged the rules a bit. We've felt the need to perform. We've looked for loopholes. I'm sure plenty of women in Bible times were saying "Well... I probably COULD have a baby if I just had sex..." One of Lot's daughters even got him drunk and slept with him to get pregnant! 

"I'll be faster if I just use some of those steroids." 

"I could get extra time if I fake sickness." 

"One little fib won't hurt anyone." 

"I could pretend it came broken and send it back." 

Now, to go even FURTHER... in the New Testament, Paul uses this section to talk about freedom we have in Christ and he makes it an allegory by talking about Hagar and Sarah. Every Jew would know that Hagar was Sarah's hand-maiden, and Sarah was Abraham's barren wife who was pretty old. God had promised Abraham that he would father more children than the stars in the sky... Sarah got tired of being made fun of and sent her maid in to get pregnant... 

God keeps His promises, so two babies were born: a free son (Isaac) and a slave son (Ishmael). One born of the flesh... one of the Spirit--the promise of God. One child was a miracle, the other natural. 

We are miracles... we are born of God's Spirit, and when we love on each other, we spread that Spirit around, creating domino effect "descendants" of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and my least-favorite FOTS, long-suffering. 

So we're children of Sarah... the barren woman. Sometimes I'm also Sarah, the woman who has to have God smack me around cause I start to lose faith. I can rejoice, on a spiritual and personal level in these parallel scriptures because I am free and I can live in freedom. I don't have to give into these little urges to perform, to compete with others, to be afraid of their cultural definitions of disgrace. 

I also can know that if I don't ever get married or have children, my life won't be purposeless. I am not useless if my womb is unused. Women are so much more than just human incubators. God knew this long before human rights acts and suffragette movements. He knew it even when women were considered property, and He's tried to get men and women to love and belong to each other as one from the beginning , but let's not get into male/female relationships... not in this post. No. 

No. These passages show me that God sees me and loves me as I am. Not only if I fulfil certain prerequisites to be worthy or useful or successful like having babies in wedlock (such a strange word). He will make my life full of rich purpose and meaning, if only I will hand over to him my deepest fears and insecurities... if I can sing out of my barrenness, He will fill my empty womb and my tent with descendants. So strike up the band and turn the mic up because He's put a lot of love in me and I'm ready to go. Amen.