Sarah Laughed

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The Healing Power Of Laughter

I love to laugh. There’s something healing in laughter. The laughter of a baby can turn the worst of days into the brightest of days. There’s something contagious in laughter. Some of my fondest memories with my dad are when we laughed. We would try to not laugh when one of our stomachs would growl in church. Or the one time when my stressful homework got to be too much that we laughed so hard. But one thing that we could mention years and years later that would get us both tickled was Pinky the cat. Yes, all you had to say was Pinky and we would both break out into laughter.

One evening after dinner, my dad and I were watching a show of news outtakes and bloopers. We watched one funny outtake after another until we saw Pinky. A man from the adoption center was telling all the wonderful things about Pinky when Pinky had enough and attacked the man. Thanks to YouTube, I have found that funny clip and can share it with you today and hopefully bring some laughter to your day.

Laughter can come in many forms. There’s the full body belly laugh that my dad and I did when we thought of Pinky. There’s the nervous laugh that I sometimes do in the most awkward of situations because I don’t know what else to do. Laughter can also come through when we doubt. And that is what I believe Sarah did when the three visitors came and told her she would have a son by this time next year.

Trusting God’s Plan

Have you ever experienced this? Has God ever told you something, or put something on your heart that made you laugh? Did you think, no way will that happen, yet God made it happen? Twenty-six years ago, God put it on my heart to teach. By this I mean writing the study and teaching it. I lead studies here and there at various churches we attended, but when I got the first invitation to speak somewhere on something I had written, I got so excited.

This opportunity arrived nineteen years after God first put it on my heart. Then you know what happened? A month after I led a women’s retreat, I began having symptoms of Lyme Disease. I did not understand it. I could not grasp why God would put something on my heart and then dangle it in front of me. Another five years passed before I would get to teach. I want to encourage you. If God has put something on your heart, He will bring it to fruition. It might not be tomorrow or a year from now, but if it’s part of His plan, it will happen. Keep pressing in.

Overcoming Doubt With Faith

When people would pray for me at first for Lyme Disease, I had so much hope. But as the disease progressed, and the years went on, I could not help but laugh to myself when people would say I would live a normal life again, much less teach. It was a daily effort to keep my eyes focused on Jesus and to keep praying.

So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Genesis 18:12 NIV

We read in Genesis 18:12 that Sarah laughed after hearing she would have a son. The Hebrew word for laugh here is ṣāḥaq צָחַק, and it means to laugh or mock. She laughed out of unbelief. But a few chapters later, we read she does indeed have a son. If we go even further into the New Testament in Hebrews, we read, “And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.” When we trust God, it will come to pass.

Even In Our Doubt, We Can Still Have Faith

I love this passage because, even in our doubt, we can still have faith. Sarah held onto faith and God blessed her with a son. God knows we will doubt. He just wants us to keep trusting and to keep our eyes focused on Him, even when we can’t fathom how everything is going to work out.

If you are in a situation right now where you don’t see the end in sight, or know how God will step in, hold on. Hold on to Him. In the same way, I would wake up each morning envisioning myself reaching for His robe for healing.

I encourage you to keep asking, keep reaching, keep your eyes focused on Him. Even on your hardest days, keep the faith because He is with you. As I said about Hagar last week, He sees you. He sees you even in the darkest of places. He knows what is best for you. He knows the plan He has for you, and He is asking for us to trust in Him. I encourage you today. Hold on to that trust.

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