““Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,” says the Lord. “Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities. “Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood. For your Creator will be your husband; the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you back from your grief— as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband,” says your God.” Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭

For some our one desire is to bear children and be a mother, but for whatever reason, the Lord has not blessed us with that opportunity. In the context of this scripture, a woman’s entire identity and purpose was wrapped up in the children she bore. For those who did not bear any children, they were disgraced, shamed, and less valuable. While this passage is referring to the city of Jerusalem as a barren woman, I think it can stand to encourage us. To know that God’s heart is one of compassion and sympathy. That he knows how hard it is, enough to equate it to the disgrace of being lost to God, but yet being redeemed by Him. The weight of that comparison hit me. Because back then, that is what it felt like to a childless woman, it felt like you had failed. It felt like you can’t show your face in public because of the shame. 

But this scripture takes that shame and turns it into honor. God is promising that we can now rejoice in our salvation, that His promise will come. He is promising deliverance from shame and sorrow. He is promising to become our husband and be the joy and fulfillment we so desire. He promises restoration to the point that we will no longer remember the pain we felt. He is not promising to give us children, because that is not a part of some of our story’s. But He will fulfill and heal you, and that is a promise.

I want to touch more on the concept of this promise. God promises to be there for us, fill our needs, and bring us peace. He does not promise to always give us the desires of our hearts. That is a hard pill to swallow. But God is just and loving and has a purpose and a plan for your life, even if it might not be the plan you want. God explains this in Isaiah 55:8-13;

““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.””

He does not say that our plans and thoughts will come to pass, but rather His plans. He will give us more joy and peace than anything this world will offer. That doesn’t mean He will never grant us the desires of our hearts. Like the scripture says, His ways are far beyond anything we could imagine. So let us hold tight to that hope in the trying times of impatience and waiting for God’s promises. Let us hold tight to the knowledge that God knows what’s best for us, and He will bring us peace and joy. We need only seek Him, and He will find us. Jer 29:11-13;

‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ‘