“Shout for joy, O barren one”

Barrenness is something or someone who is unable to produce fruit. Barrenness can apply to many different situations. It might be a person who is financially barren and 100K in debt. Or what I usually think of, the woman who is physically barren and has gone 5 years without becoming pregnant.

Unfortunately, as I have seen over and over, and I think is very common for the infertility community, shame and disgrace are often felt by those who experience any kind of barrenness. Shame is nothing new, because Isaiah 54 references the shame Israel was feeling.

Isaiah 54:1 says, “‘Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,’ says the LORD.” 

“Shout for joy, O barren one”

Shout for joy? Who? What? Why? These might all be questions you are asking when you read this verse.

Even though Israel was facing shame and disgrace, this verse states that “the sons of the desolate will be more numerous.” The shouting was a prophetic act that the barrenness they experienced would one day turn into fruitfulness.

This past Sunday I was a sobbing mess at church, and even though I didn’t feel like it, I held my hands up high, as a prophetic act, and shouted praises to the Lord. I felt broken. I felt hopeless. I felt weary, but for me, shouting praises to the Lord is never based on how I “feel” or what circumstances I am facing. Instead, it is based on God’s character, which never changes.

You have plenty of reasons to shout for joy in your barrenness. God wants you to shout in expectation of your territory expanding. God wants you to shout and praise him for the miracle that is coming. God wants you to shout because he knows you won’t be barren forever. God wants you to shout because he knows that fruitfulness is coming.

Even if it’s the darkest and driest season you have ever experienced, don’t let the barrenness stop you from singing and dancing. Choose to thank and praise him in the dry, barren and desolate season and join me in “Shouting for joy, O barren one.”

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