Fall 2000
The Blessing of Being Barren
Jerry Hyde

The Lord’s intention is that when He comes in some manner to visit us, the result will be a change within us. He desires us to progress in our character and spiritual sensitivity, as He deposits something of Himself into the very fiber of our being. Our relationships with others should also reveal that something has happened in us.

There must be a previous work of preparation within us, to make us ready to respond to, and receive, the Lord when He thus comes. John the Baptist was one sent to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. Without this time of preparation, a revival will not go deep within. Rather, it will result in shallowness, and fail to bring a true change of heart and life.

When our Lord was on the earth, multitudes were blessed and healed. We are told that there were about 500 believers at the time of the Upper Room experience. But only 120 waited for the promise of the Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. The majority were not ready and missed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

When the Lord came the first time there had been no prophetic voice in Israel for about 400 years. There was now a need for such a voice. It came through a son born to Elizabeth, the elderly and barren wife of a priest names Zacharias.

Zacharias was told by an angel,

“Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard;
and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son,
and thou shalt call his name John ... and he
shall go before Him in the spirit and power of
Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the just; to make ready a people prepared for
the Lord.” Luke 1:13,17.

Often, when it was time for the Lord to do a new thing, it sprang out of a situation in which someone was barren. One reason is so that this child who is about to be born will be desperately wanted and needed. When Hanna realized she was barren, she became so desperate that she was in bitterness of soul, and wept sore (1 Samuel 1:10). The Lord even caused her adversary to make her fret because the Lord had shut her womb. (I Sam 1:5-6).

There was much compromise in the priesthood of that day, and it was time to bring a change for better things. There needed to be a fresh commitment and dedication to the Lord so He could again have His way. Out of her barrenness came Samuel, and a whole new order came to Israel.

On the day of Pentecost a people were gathered together, not on the basis of their spirituality, but as a group of failures who recognized their desperate need for a visitation from heaven. Having known the Lord for three years did not result in their being ready to change the world. The Lord had told them that they would all be offended because of Him.

Peter, a few days before, had denied the Lord. The disciples had all failed and come short. This was one of the reasons they were of “one accord.” Thus they waited, being aware of their utter inability to serve Him in their own strength. When the Spirit came, they were all greatly affected.

Now they had a new motivation within them, which was greater than before. This was not only because the Spirit came. It was because they were ready in their hearts when the Spirit came, knowing their barrenness and desperate need. They were enabled to the extent that they had been disabled.

Abraham and Sarah were made ready for the promised son, after they discovered their utter lack of ability to fulfil what God had said to them. The Lord caused them to greatly desire what they knew they could not produce by human methods. Thus the child would be greatly wanted, loved, and cared for.

When Solomon was presented with two women both claiming to be the mother of a certain baby, he solved the problem by ordering that the living child be divided by a sword, so that each could have half. One woman was willing for the child to die, to settle the argument, but the true mother loved the child. She would rather lose possession of the child than for the child to die.

This must be our attitude about what the Lord is bringing forth. We must love the presence of God enough to give up our rights to it, for selfish reasons. Then the Lord will know we correctly love what He is doing, and will be able to trust us with the care of it.

The Pentecostal revival, which began one hundred years ago, came as a result of earnest prayer, repentance, and commitment. As a result, it went deep and touched the world. A burden came in those days concerning the quality of preparation for revival, so that the quality of the revival could continue.

However, pride, with its results, began to creep in and the glory of the revival began to leave. The Lord comes to deliver broken people. He will continue to come as long as we remain broken. When we lose our sense of need and desire, the Lord may lift His best until we again see our need.

We have learned to receive a measure of the Lord’s presence, and we have experienced much in our day that has been truly from the Lord. The Lord is moving sovereignly in many places, but at the same time, there is an increasing burden for something greater to come.

Many are becoming dissatisfied and are crying out to the Lord, even for the return of the heavenly Bridegroom Himself. This cry is from the Lord. As Abraham could not get an Isaac; as Hanna could not get a Samuel; as Elizabeth could not get a John; as the early Church could not be what God intended them to be, so also, we will not receive, by any of the popular methods of our day.

It is time for a new order, as in Hannah’s day. The Lord is about to birth a witness in the earth, out of a barren womb.

We are living in the time of the Laodicean church of Revelation chapter three. They considered themselves rich and increased with goods, and did not understand their need. Jesus addresses this in Luke 6:24,25.

“Woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received you
consolation. Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall
hunger...”

Jesus was speaking of those who did not see their need for a Divine encounter. To this problem He said,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear
My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and
will sup with him, and he with Me.” Rev 3:20.)

There was a need to change their focus from the move of God, to the God of the move. There is a sense of this need today. Many are dissatisfied, even in the measure in which God is moving.

It is time to examine our hearts and open our spirit to Him. He promises to pour waters upon the dry ground, and rivers in the desert. Now is the time to prepare for His coming, in a way that will affect us deeply and bring forth fruit for His glory.

The Lord will make us barren so that we will intensely desire this child, and then take good care of it.

“Sing ... and cry aloud ... for more are the children
of the desolate than the children of the married wife,
saith the Lord.” Isaiah 54:1.