According to statistics obtained from the 2010 Census, the number of American women who remain childless after their childbearing years, has doubled since 1970. At that time, 10% of American women did not have children, while the number has now increased to 20%. While there may be scientific and cultural reasons behind that data, with one possibility being the increase of women in the workplace, a greater explanation involves the de-emphasis on God in the lives of Americans.
From the time that God created man and woman, and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28), our Lord has blessed those following Him with the promise of children. In agrarian economies, children helped to farm the land, and additionally, most spent their lives in proximity to one another. In addition to experiencing the blessing of life from their own loins, God’s greatest calling to parents is into the ministry of teaching their children about Him. When God gave the Law to Moses and the children of Israel, His covenant contained a blessing to their children, as well.
1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
Deuteronomy 28:1-4
In biblical times, childless women felt cursed. A great example of that sadness can be seen in the life of Sarah, who passed her childbearing years without children. Equally sad for her husband, Sarah encouraged Abraham to sire a child with her maidservant.
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
Genesis 16:1-3
Though God’s covenant to Abraham had included that He would greatly bless Abraham’s descendants, both Abraham and Sarah lost faith in the Lord’s ability to make that event happen, when Sarah’s age increased. We often fail in the same manner, as we logically deduce what is possible and what is impossible. Yet with God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37)! Instead, the impossibility involves God breaking a promise, as He cannot go against His own nature. So after Abraham fathered Ishmael with Hagar, God performed the miracle of birth with 90-year-old Sarah giving birth to Isaac, blessing 100-year-old Abraham with the son of God’s covenant. The failure of Abraham and Sarah to trust God created problems that still exist today, as Ishmael’s 12 sons became the Arabic nations. Today, Israel is surrounded by those Arabic nations, also offspring of Abraham, which desire to annihilate the only Jewish state.
For a person to be physically barren can cause much sadness, yet the barrenness that leads to destruction is of a spiritual variety:
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8
The Greek word for “barren” in the passage above is argos, denoting utter uselessness. Another definition includes yielding no return because of inactivity. In our Christian walks, God has at least one ministry for each of us, as He desires for us to know the life that His love creates. Just as a mother desires to have children, Christians should desire to be used for the purposes God has created them for. Though ministry can include many difficult paths, there is no greater blessing than to be operating in the gifts God has given! Yet in order for that ministry to occur, Peter highlighted for each of us a progression of the growth in our walks that must occur first. We must diligently add virtue to our faith, continue to grow in knowledge, exhibit self-control, be able to persevere even in difficulties, to grow in godliness, to be kind to our brothers, and most importantly, to grow in love. Without love, God will not use us to further His kingdom! Just as no child desires to grow up in a home without parents who love him, God will not appoint us to be a part of a ministry accomplished without love. If you have not found your ministry as a Christian, step out in faith when God cracks the door open ever so slightly. Remember, it is not about your abilities, but His ability. God called the stuttering Moses to speak to a king and lead millions of people. There is nothing our Lord cannot accomplish. God does not need any of us, but He desires to use us for our blessing! Would you rather be a sandy desert or a fruit tree?
25 “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. 26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
Exodus 23:25-26
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