Series: Blessed Be
Psalm 113:9 ESV
Genesis 11:30 ESV
Genesis 12:1-3 ESV
Genesis 15:1-4 ESV
Genesis 17:15-16 ESV
Genesis 21:1-5 ESV
Genesis 30:22-24 ESV
1 Samuel 1:20 ESV
Luke 1:5-7 ESV
While life can and does get tough when things don’t go as we had hoped, I’ve found that turning to God and trusting really does make a difference with the outcome.
Psalm 113:9 tells us, “He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!”
The reference to the barren woman reminds us of Sarai in Genesis 11:30-25:18. We know from Genesis 11:30, “Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
Then in Genesis 12:1-3 we read,“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So how could God make Abram a great nation when his wife was barren?
Then God promised in Genesis 15:1-4, “the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And again in Genesis 17:15-16,
“And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
At that time Abraham was 99 years old and Sarai was 90 years old.
Then in Genesis 21:1-5, “The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.”
God fulfilled the promise to Abraham and Sarai (now called Sarah). She who was once barren but now was a mother.
Then there was Rachel, wife of Jacob. Now, Jacob had other wives and he had other wives who bore him children, but Rachel had no children.
Rachel in Genesis 30:22-24 Rachel had been barren and she had prayed and prayed. We learn that God heard Rachel’s pleas and she conceived and bore a son named Joseph. And then later we are told in Genesis 35:16-18 just before she died Rachel bore another son to Jacob and he was named Benjamin.
Then in I Samuel 1 we know that Hanna, wife of Elkanah was barren. Elkanah’s other wife who had children even made fun of her because she was childless. So Hannah prayed and prayed and prayed and God heard her and answered her prayer in a mighty way!
In 1 Samuel 1:20 we learn that she gave birth to Samuel who was prophet for Israel. She also bore three other children after Samuel. God blessed Hannah when she prayed!
And we are told of Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah in Luke 1:5-7:
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.”
And then a miracle happened and Elizabeth (who was related to Mary, mother of Jesus) bore a son and they named him John and he became known as the Baptizer and fore-runner to Jesus, the Christ.
At the right time, God blessed Elizabeth in mighty ways. She prayed and God gave her much more than she expected!
Each of the women mentioned were barren women, left behind, and without hope.. But each time God had a plan. Their barren condition was not because God forgot them.
For years they had prayed and waited, they did not understand why God had not answered.
In each case it was because God had a very special plan for them!
Sometimes it really seems like we wait and we wait and we wait and we think God has forgotten.
We cannot imagine why God doesn’t answer.
When that happens, just like it was for the barren women, it’s because God’s timing is not like our timing. What God is thinking about is US. God is preparing us for what’s ahead.
The waiting is because God is preparing you for something special.
The longer the wait means God is preparing you for a task that no one else can do. No one but Mary was chosen to carry the Messiah.
While she was a teenager when Jesus was born, God was preparing her.
It was Mary who received (and believed) the Angel.
It was Mary who bore the Son of God.
It was Mary who fed and clothed Jesus. She KNEW he wasn’t like other boys, but she held that in her heart.
It was Mary who stood at the foot of the cross and watched her son suffer and die. Even though he was without sin, he was crucified while his mother watched.
And remember it was Mary who would have been told her son had risen from the grave.
Beyond that, Mary was one of the women who carried on after her son ascended into heaven.
Spiritual Practice: Trust
Is you wait and you don’t understand, trust God and ask God to prepare you for your future.
In God, Deborah
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