An Unfulfilled Life

For it is written, “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor; for more are the children of the desolate than the one who has a husband”  Galatians 4:27

Desolate – Yesterday we looked at the word, eremos, translated 32 times as “desert” or “wilderness.”  But it isn’t always a topographical term.  Today we see that Paul uses this word to describe the inner barrenness of an unfulfilled life.  He quotes Isaiah 54:1, substituting eremou for the Hebrew word shomema (the root is shamem).  That Hebrew word has two meanings:  to be desolate and to be amazed or appalled.  It is often used both ways in the same context, for example, when someone comes upon great destruction and desolation and is appalled by the scene.

Now that you know Paul’s Hebrew thinking, you can see something in this Greek word that isn’t so obvious in the usual translation.  Not only is an unfulfilled life a place of desolation, it is also an appalling site.  It is appalling and amazing because God never intended us to be walking wildernesses.  In fact, God resides in the lonely places for the express purpose of rescuing us from those empty holes.  His mercy and grace are not found in the chaos of the city, saturated with our agendas of self-sufficiency.   If you want to know God, you’ve got to work on noise reduction.  Crawl into that hole in your life and stay there until God comes for you!  Find that place where your life is unfulfilled and open it up to Him.  What is the point of running after the world’s version of satisfying experiences if there is desolation at the core?  Isaiah tells us that the barren woman, the desolate one, has far more children – far more fulfillment – than the one who has a husband.  Why?  Because the only really satisfying fulfillment in life must come from the God in the wilderness.

Do you know an inside empty place, a place where you simply can’t survive?  You know how long you have tried to flee that black hole in your soul.  Don’t you see that the appalling desolation is the center of rejoicing?  Are you looking for God in the Board Room or on center stage?  Why?  Did you think He needs the limelight in order to accomplish His purposes for you?  God works where no one else can – or will – including you!  Let your desolation become amazement.