Against All Odds

~Against all odds~

“Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear;

break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who did not travail with child!
For the [spiritual] children of the desolate one
will be more than the children of the married wife,
says the Lord.

Enlarge the place of your tent,
and let the curtains of your habitations
be stretched out; spare not;

lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes,
for you will spread abroad to the right hand and to the left;
and your offspring will possess the nations
and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.”
Isaiah 54:1-3 AMP

There is a fire, a tenacity of soul and spirit that grabs the heart of our Maker.

Sometimes this fire can be misinterpreted by on-lookers as stubbornness, but it is not necessarily contained within an obvious, outward trait, immediately recognizable to all. As it is a condition of the heart, a resolution beyond words to express, it may remain hidden deep within, or it may spill out in emotions and actions.

Either way, it is unmistakable to our Father above.

Think about the picture painted in the verses above: a barren woman; a woman who has tried again and again to conceive but with no success; a woman who appears to be out of God’s favor; a woman who must deal daily with the humiliation that she has failed to reach her dreams and desires, a part of her very reason for living, and there is absolutely nothing she can do to change it.

But she just can’t get away from those words, “Sell everything and buy the field” (Matthew 13:44).

Isn’t that the risk God has asked her to take: to step past the countless tears and questions; to get beyond the logic and arguments; to believe one more time. And not only to believe but to sing, to celebrate, to enlarge her home in preparation of coming children, to the shaking heads of the neighbors.

That’s a lot to ask when a heart has grown weary. And yet He asks because He is looking, searching, for a heart with that fire, that tenacity, that willingness.

That’s a huge word, an expensive word: willingness.

• Willing to step into the dark.

• Willing to step through the fear.

• Willing to step over the pain.

• Willing to risk it all, sell it all, or give it all away at His word.

This isn’t just a casual attitude. Webster’s New World Thesaurus lists some synonyms for willing/willingness: “zealous, enthusiastic, eager, reliable, prompt, obedient, responsible, agreeable, prepared, voluntary, and ready.” I would like to add that this willingness sometimes comes in a place of great weariness or confusion, but the heart cry is still the same: Yes, Father, at Your word.

Think of Mary’s words in Luke 1:38 (AMP), “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to what You have said.” This young virgin suddenly found herself in the midst of an absolutely stupendous situation, and yet, willingness so filled her heart that she believed beyond all sense of logic that she would birth the Son of God.

When we say, “Yes, Father,” we silence the voices that try to bring doubt.
When we say, “Yes, Father,” we believe that one Voice can override all others.
When we say, “Yes, Father,” we believe that that one Voice will speak only truth.

Over and over the Bible records Jesus searching for this same mixture of desperation, perseverance, and faith.

It caused Nicodemus to climb a tree. It pushed Peter to throw the net out again and to walk on water. This willingness to try again resulted in blind eyes opening, lame feet walking, the Centurion’s absent daughter being healed, and demoniacs being set free. In one Gentile woman, this fire was not dampened even when Jesus told her that He was sent only to help the people of Israel.

As she worshiped and pleaded again, Jesus responded to her great faith, stepped for a moment beyond His boundaries, and healed her daughter.

The path to our future is not always smooth. In fact, if our heart burns for Him, it will most certainly lead us through many deep valleys and up many steep mountainsides. But the promise of our Father is sure: The children of the barren woman will be more than the married wife, and they will possess the nations to make them fruitful.

The shame of our youth, the area of our humiliation, and the place of our emptiness will become our glory.