With Mother’s Day around the corner, motherhood is invariably on my mind. And perhaps, it’s on your mind too. Childlessness is one of the most heart-wrenching and loneliest struggles a woman can experience. The pain is silent, leaving many feeling isolated, and devastated that their time to be a mother has yet to come. The consistent roller coaster of experiencing hope and excitement followed by feelings of anxiety and sadness can take a toll.
If you are experiencing childlessness, you’re not alone. I have experience with this silent struggle, too, and while not all stories are written the same, we have this blessed assurance: even in the silence and amidst grief, God has a plan—He is present and at work. Below, I’m sharing a few truths I’ve learned while in this season of silence. I hope it is encouraging to you if you are in this season too. If you know someone who is struggling, I hope I can give some insight on how to love them better and be a friend.
Enjoy & Grow in Your Marriage
“Beloved, let us love one another…” 1 John 4:7
Life and loss are joint undertakings in a marriage. So often, we think successful marriages are ones in which we’re comfortable all the time, but that’s not true. Marriage takes a courageous and heroic temper to succeed. Bearing together, with composure, one heavy mischance after another. Not because a husband and wife do not feel them, but because they cling to one another.
Childlessness is not the end of the road, but an opportunity to grow in your marriage. Life is filled with the ebb and flow of weeping and rejoicing. Somehow, in His sovereignty, God uses both for His glory and our good. Pray together. Go on dates. Dream big. Make plans. Together, seek God’s will.
Pray
“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” Romans 12:12.
Christ calls us to be His disciples. He doesn’t place his children in categories of value based on family size. You are no less loved by God if you are struggling with childlessness. It may feel like God has abandoned you, but He’s with you in the silence. Even if you don’t know what to say, faithfully set aside a defined time and place to pray.
Quiet, designated time in prayer not only gives us an opportunity to lay our requests before the Lord but also to thank Him for all He has done. Journaling prayers and the answers to those prayers as you see the Lord’s faithfulness in them cultivates a grateful heart. Seeing His faithfulness to hear our prayer is where we can find encouragement to remain faithful as we grow in confidence that He is working all things for our good.
You Need Community
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15
Our natural inclination is to want to do things ourselves and in our own power. God has given us not only His Word but also other people to encourage us, rejoice with us, and weep with us.
Since the beginning, God never intended for us to be alone—we were created for relationships. Childlessness is an isolating cross to carry, having a community can be a healing balm to a wounded heart. Jesus was surrounded by faithful disciples and friends during His life and ministry on earth. Friendship is God’s gracious gift to us. He knows what it’s like to experience pain in a broken world. He knows our sorrows and sees our tears.
Allow Yourself to Grieve
“Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; saves those whose spirit is crushed.” Psalm 34:18
In the opening line of A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis wrote, “No one told me that grief feels like fear.” Deep within our souls, we recognize that life wasn’t supposed to be bound with loss. In God’s original design, we lived in a garden in perfect harmony with Him. There were no tears, loss, or pain.
In the midst of grief—this nightmare of longing—He holds the stars in the sky and He carries your tired, worn-out heart. God is near you now and He empathizes with your pain. It’s okay to grieve.
A Word of Encouragement
While the desire to be a mother is holy, your identity shouldn’t be tied to childlessness. Our identity is found in being made in God’s image and likeness—not in how successful we are, how loved, or our ability to have children. Life has many seasons. Seasons of joy, grief, hardship, and comfort. God uses every season for our good, and though we cannot see the complete picture of what He is doing may we seek every opportunity to search for a way to witness God working all things together for our good as He works in our waiting.
Thanks for sharing, what an awesome way to some up grief and pain. Knowing God is in the middle and we can call out to Him in our fears. <3
Thank you for reading!
Excellent Amber!
🙏 Thanks for the encouraging words!
God Bless You, Dear One!
Ach, I want to say the same thing about the silent isolating grief of reaching your third or fourth or beyond, decade without ever having found your own love, with its own special brand of childlessness and social obscurity… a completely hidden cross. I wish I could write about it like this.
God be with you in your sanctifying suffering, sweet sister.
I’ve been following you on IG awhile now. I don’t spend very much time on it anymore but today I saw your post of your and Stephen’s 15 year anniversary, congratulations. I too am from W-S and love the RJR building you call home. We have had a staycation there and thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason I found your blog and began to read parts. You write beautifully. And as a Christian I found a lot of comfort in some of the things I read. I’ve been out of church for far too long now and little things keep popping into my life to remind lately. Thought my comments are a bit generic, I have had a few serious losses, one being my baby, Noah back in 1996. One thing that always gives me comfort is knowing he is with Christ and I will see him again one day and through time I’ve learned to trust that God is with us through it all. Joys and sorrows. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you for this reminder.