When was the last time something delighted you and your response was to laugh? I’m not talking about something inherently funny, like a standup comedy routine or video compilation of the “Best Fails of the Year,” but something unexpected that delivered real joy as you experienced it. In times of great elation, to respond in laughter suggests that something else altogether is happening.
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:1-7
For Sarah, when the not only improbable, but the seemingly impossible, happens, her response is to laugh. This miraculously delightful birth is underscored by the name given to this child that is the fulfillment of God’s promise. In Hebrew, Isaac means, “one who laughs.” Sarah and Abraham have been laughing for some time at the prospect of becoming parents in their advanced age and now laugh because it has indeed happened.
What are the blessings in your life today that might inspire you and those around you to laugh in response? What longed-for but unanticipated happening might do the same? Whose joy might you add your laughter to in response?
God’s activity in the world is capable of delivering great delight. Perhaps we should regularly exercise our laughter responses so that we’re prepared for these moments when they occur. Find something to laugh about today. Better yet, share your laughter with someone else.
May’s God’s hope embrace you today. -Pastor Peter
Let us pray… Gracious God, you make possible moments of great delight. May the possibilities you reveal inspire us to laugh in our joy. Amen.