Devotional: Childlessness

Genesis 30:1, “So she (Rachel) said to Jacob, ‘Give me children or I will die!”

Though grief is normally associated with the loss of a loved one, grief takes many forms. One can grieve the loss of a job, a broken relationship, or the loss of a role such as retirement. Grief is the pain of suffering loss of any kind. One such loss that causes great grief and suffering is the inability to have children, This grief is associated with the loss of a dream and a desire to have children and raise a family.

When Rachel saw that Leah was having children and she could not (at the time), it grieved her not to be able to have children. Rachel thought she was going to “die,” because of her unfulfilled desire to have children. She was miserable and made her husband miserable, as she actually blamed him. She envied her sister, who was able to have children, and this led to her additional sense of grief. Furthermore, often this can take a toll on marital relationships, and can eventually lead to divorce if not accepted.

Furthermore, this grief is difficult to understand in our relationship with God, as society often sees children as a blessing from the Lord. Thus, when a woman cannot have children, it is as if God hasn’t blessed her with this special blessing. Grief is difficult to process, and the inability to have children is one of the most difficult challenges for a woman who has dreamed all her life about having children.