GREEN-LIGHT revolution

"So, why aren't you married yet? Maybe you just need to get out a little more, eh? What, too picky? Well, at your age, you really can’t afford to be so choosy…”

Perhaps like me, you've found yourself on the other side of one of these conversations. It’s usually a well-meaning relative who poses the barrage of questions between forkfuls of turkey and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving dinner, while the rest of the family gradually tunes out the football game and tunes into my embarrassing conversation. Despite the Joshua Harris books, the John Piper podcasts, and the studies in 1 Corinthians 7, in those excruciating moments, I feel ashamed of being single.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the roles of women in the Old Testament. These ladies were living under the Old Covenant, when God's kingdom grew through physical births. Ever since the first family on earth received the creation mandate in Genesis 1 (be fruitful and multiply) women had been doing just that. They contributed to the growth of God's kingdom by bearing children and training them to know and worship the Lord. Sadly, women who could not bear children experienced tremendous grief and shame. Some were mocked or criticized by family members. Others saw their barrenness as a sign of God's disfavor.

I think many single women today feel a similar sense of shame and confusion in regard to being single. In my own heart and in conversations with other single girls, I have heard echoes of the struggles these barren women must have faced. Single women, too, wonder how we can contribute to the growth of God’s kingdom outside the roles of wife and mother. Sometimes family members say things that hurt our feelings. Like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah, we live in the faith-building tension of trusting in God’s goodness while certain good things are withheld.

As I looked into the issue of barrenness in the Bible, I came across a wonderful, prophetic directive in Isaiah 54.

“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married… Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.” Isaiah 54:1-3

This prophecy is about a new era, one in which the concepts of family, birth, and growth have to be reconsidered and redefined. And guess what? We live in this era! Under the New Covenant, single women don’t have to wonder if we can make significant contributions to the growth of God’s kingdom. His family no longer multiplies through childbearing, but through spiritual rebirth and the adoption of sons and daughters from many different families. Now, anyone can participate! More than any other person in history, Jesus expanded God's kingdom and He did so without getting married or having children. If there was ever any shame in being unmarried or childless, Jesus has removed it. In fact, he brought honor to those positions by embodying them during his life on earth.

I am determined (not successful, but determined) to esteem whatever gifts God decides to give me this year. I won’t be ashamed of my portion. Instead, I am going to break out into song, throw back the curtains of my tent, and strengthen my stakes. I want to introduce wandering orphans to the Father of the Fatherless, to my maker and husband.

Going green!
Lynn

P.S. Check out the rest of Isaiah 54. It's great!