"He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of His people.
He makes the barren woman
abide in the house
as a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
~ Psalm 113:7-9 ~
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Does He raise the poor from the dust?
Can He lift the needy from the ash heap?
Do you believe we are royalty because we are His children?
Afterall, He is and will be the King of Kings.
Either God is telling a lie or you have to believe the next part too: "He makes the barren woman abide in the house as a joyful mother of children." I have a friend who is beyond the stage of childbearing and has no medical reason why she never bore children. Menopause brought a grief with it that doesn't come to a mother who had the privilege of raising her own children by that stage. Is my friend an exception to this promise in Psalm 113? Did she just "miss the boat"? Is she left out of that promise? An exception to the rule?
If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that God ALWAYS tells the Truth. So I believe him when he says that if you aren't a mother now, for whatever reason, you will be one someday.
Okay, you say that's all hunky dory but it doesn't help you now and frankly it brings you no comfort whatsoever for the grief you've had to go through with not bearing your own children. Or maybe it means something else to you. Maybe you're a believer but you are terrified at the thought of having children or adamant about NOT having children. You never liked them, you never want them, end of story!
I'm just one person and I've only stepped foot on the campus of a seminary once in my life, but not long enough to absorb anything worth applying here. However, I have studied Scripture for the better part of the 18+ years of my Christian walk and have come up with an opinion aged like fine wine. My opinion on this passage this Mother's Day is this: If it hasn't happened yet then it will in the future. Not to be sarcastic at all or give worthless words of comfort, but I truly believe that this is what God is saying. God speaks throughout scripture to mothers who have had this privilege. What more needs to be said to women who are not except, "You will be a mother someday!"
"But when?" you ask with a sigh of exasperation. Honestly, it seems to me like there would be a tremendous need for mothers in the millenium. Bear with me and don't tune me out just because I mentioned something found in the book of Revelation. It's called the thousand year reign with Christ and is found in Revelation 20. It is discussed after the 7 years of tribulation and just before the end of the book. It seems to me that after the devestating destruction of earth and life, when the saints "came back to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" (20:4), there might be a few orphans walking around in need of a mother. "JOYFUL mother of children?" How can that be joyful? Must we question God's design when we can't comprehend even the tribulation itself? He promised his grace is sufficient for all he needs to make his plan happen.
Furthermore, what about the "new heaven and new earth" (21:1). Why are we campaigning for unborn children if it's not a life at conception? And if it's a life as you believe it is, then who will mother these little ones, not that God won't be all-sufficient in eternity, but will there be no one to give them what they never had? Seeing the character and order and provision of God leads me to believe that this promise of Psalm 113 just might be fulfilled after it's all said and done. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain," (21:4). That sounds to me like all our needs will be met; it sounds joyful indeed!
Now my question to you is this. How are you, barren woman, preparing to meet your children? You don't know how or when, but someday it will come to pass. Are you prepared to minister joyfully to orphan witnesses of the tribulation? I'm NOT saying that it WILL be then that you receive the fulfillment of this promise, but if it were, would you be ready? How would that change your heart now? What would you do differently? Where would this joy come from when joy is hardly what you feel about it right now?
What hopes of yours have been dashed? What visions have you had that fell to their death though you thought for sure they were of the Lord? Maybe those things were never meant to be, but one thing truly was meant to be -- the barren woman was meant to abide in the house as a joyful mother of children. What house? THE house. You decide as the Spirit reveals, but could it be the House of the Lord... the new heaven... the new earth?
May God reveal to you the truth of this passage and renew your hope that you were meant to bring him glory. You can't change that because it's not up to you. You can't run far enough away, you can't sin too much, wish away the Truth, disbelieve it into oblivion. Consider the words of the psalmist, "If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and your right hand will lay hold of me" (Psalm 139:8-10).
It's the Truth that you can bank your spiritual wealth on. Believe it! May the Lord bless each and every mother both now and forevermore!
~Lisa
* photo copyrighted by your integrity. This is my personal photography taken Friday morning last week (5/6/11). Morning dew on my hostas.
