Genesis Day 32: Laughter is good for the soul
Every now and then I will laugh—a lot. After, whatever was so funny has passed, I always think, “I don’t do that enough!” Has that ever happened to you?
I am around people that laugh… some of them laugh a lot, and loudly.
Laughter: it is good for us.
Sometimes we laugh “with” people, and other times we laugh “at” people.
I wonder what God thought when Sarah laughed at His promise.
Picture the scene. You are barely able to utter the phrase, “Sorry, boss” as you struggle to get your laughter under control. Or that moment when you think everyone at church is looking at you because your attempts to subdue your giggling are futile. My wife and her sister often have their “funny bones tickled” by the same thing. When they are together, it is not uncommon for them to look at each other and burst out laughing at the same moment.
Abraham and Sarah didn’t burst out at the same moment, but they did have the same reaction to God’s promise—laughter! Abraham (in 17:17) and Sarah (in 18:12-15) both laugh—in front of God.
Interesting, God doesn’t blink. God doesn’t take offense. God will no doubt have the last laugh in this scenario.
I love that they named their son Isaac—it means laughter. (Can’t imagine how that played out with the other kids.)
Beyond “a laugh”, what is the point of all this giggling?
It is actually quite a serious point—that God is faithful.
Let’s just unpack that a bit.
“God is faithful” might fall a little short of what this part of the Bible is telling us.
It is not just that God is faithful, but that He is all-sufficiently faithful. This part of our family story reveals that 100% of this is done by God. Abraham and Sarah are not capable of producing a child. This story is not that God “helped” them. No, God did this completely.
When we say, “God is faithful”—we mean that He will, all by Himself, do 100% of what He has promised.
It is why God waited until Abraham and Sarah were so advanced in years. God wanted to remove any possibility that there was some other reason for this pregnancy.
Maybe Sarah and Abraham’s laughter was more than amusement. Maybe it was each of them laughing as they thought, “That would be so cool, God; I can’t wait for you to do it!”
Can you imagine Sarah talking with her friends about her news? How about all the slaps on the back that Abraham got from his buddies? Oh, the twinkles that must have been in their eyes—and yet at each turn I imagine they gave glory to God!
Makes me wonder, what promise am I “sitting and waiting upon”, maybe Philippians 1:6 … and is my faith that of Abraham’s where I laugh in joy that God is going to do this—100%?