He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” -Genesis 15:5

God promised to make Abraham into a great nation with as many offspring as there were stars in the sky! Children are pretty essential to that covenant, I’d say. Right? 

There are many more examples of this I could point out, but what I find especially interesting is that God made this promise to Abram and his wife, Sarai, when they were childless. Literally just a few verses before God first spoke the covenant, we read this: 

Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive. -Genesis 11:30

Sooo He was promising a great nation with offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky to a barren woman. As I stopped to think about this, I thought about all of the other childless women we read about in the Bible. Well, not just childless women, because technically every woman is childless before she has her first baby, right? Each of these examples below were not just childless, but they were also considered barren. They were either way past childbearing years, or they’d been desiring a child for a long time without conceiving. Let’s take a look…

Sarai was childless before giving birth to Isaac.

Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive. … Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.. -Genesis 11:30; 21:2

Rebekah was childless before giving birth to Jacob and Esau.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. -Genesis 25:21

Rachel was childless before giving birth to Joseph. 

When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. … Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. -Genesis 29:31; 30:32

Hannah was childless before giving birth to Samuel.

[Elkanah] had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. … So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.” -1 Samuel 1:2, 20

Samson’s mother was childless before giving birth to him.

A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are barren and childless, but you are going to become pregnant and give birth to a son. … The woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him. -Judges 13:2-3, 24

Elizabeth was childless before giving birth to John the Baptist.

But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. … When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. -Genesis 1:7, 57

There are others in Scripture, too, but these are a few that may sound especially familiar. And actually, even Mary was childless before giving birth to Jesus. Granted, she was young and certainly not considered to be barren, but she still represents another woman who received a prophetic promise centered around a child—when she did not have one. 

Now just take a minute to read back through the names of the children who came from barren women—Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, Samson and John the Baptist. And Jesus! Through childless women, God brought men into the world who played crucial roles in His plan for the redemption of His people. Isn’t that just fascinating to think about? There are probably lots of different principles we could pull from this pattern, but I’m settling on this one for now: God can bring something out of nothing.

Is there a prayer you’ve been praying for a long time that you’re tempted to give up on? God can bring something out of nothing. A situation that looks hopeless in every angle you examine it from? God can bring something out of nothing. Have you just about let your desperation get the best of you with that circumstance that seems impossible? God can bring something out of nothing. Resist the temptation to assume that anything too far gone for God to bless with His abundance and favor. God can bring something out of nothing. Did I mention the fact that some of the barren women highlighted above were pretty well along in years? Sarai was 90 when she gave birth to Isaac. God can bring something out of nothing.

And ya know what? I think God might even prefer it that way. Why? Well, think about it. Think back to Sarai. If she’d conceived when she was a young lady and had a baby on a more “normal” timeline, surely she would have thanked God for the blessing of her new baby, BUT… How much more do you think she praised God for His miraculous goodness after she finally gave birth to her first child at age 90!?! When God shows His power in such undeniable ways, we are more apt to recognize Him at work and attribute the goodness in our lives to Him. When the prophet Elijah was surrounded by people worshiping Baal, he asked God to bring down fire on water-soaked wood. Why? 

Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” -1 Kings 18:37-39, emphasis added 

If not for a circumstance that seemed impossible to begin with, the people would have been way less likely to recognize the display of God’s power and turn their hearts toward Him. 

So don’t give up! Who knows, that moment when you’re just about to call it quits could be right when God is about to show Himself strong. God created the earth from nothing, and He can bring something magnificent out of your nothing. 

“Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” -Genesis 18:14