He fills my mouth with laughter, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha … the joy of the Lord is my strength. In 1971, Alliene G. Vale wrote this familiar and simple chorus for children. While biographical information about the author is unavailable, her song has encouraged and uplifted many these past 55 years.
Today is National Let’s Laugh Day. Far too many Christians would deem this to be a frivolous thing to do when the world is filled with so much suffering, chaos, confusion, and devilish activity. Why should we focus on laughing when we ought to be weeping?
I cannot disagree that we do not weep enough. Maybe we don’t weep at all. But we are certainly grieved daily by the things that are happening around us. There is never a shortage of tragedy, and it weighs heavily upon us. Look in the faces of humanity as they pass us in the streets and you can see the wear and tear of life that has taken its toll.
Vale’s children’s song is taken from Nehemiah 8:10. If you know the history of the book of Nehemiah, it starts with Nehemiah weeping over the condition of the Holy City, broken and ravaged, left in a pile of rubble. He secured the privilege to leave captivity with a group to start rebuilding the city and the work was uphill all the way. There was opposition and trials from within and from without.
After Nehemiah and Ezra, the priest, had reintroduced the people to the Law of the Lord, the people were so broken that they wept. This is when Nehemiah gave this message to the people. “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for
whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
When there is abundant, overflowing joy, there is going to be laughter. Overwhelming joy erupts and radiates from the face and life. It’s impossible to stop it as it flows so freely.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us that there is “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…” May I suggest that Christianity doesn’t do a good job as a whole with any of this?
Weeping comes from brokenness. Laughter comes from joy. Too many Christians are smack dab in between. That’s the place where we have a severe case of the grumpy growlies. We meander through life like the cartoon character, Garfield, on a Monday. And EVERY DAY is Monday! Wake up. Clock in. Clock out. Go home. Sleep. Repeat. Along the way, we grumble about the weather, the abundance of work we have to do, politics, prices, people, and anything else that gets in our way. We are tired IN, tired OUT, and tired OF the rat race routine of life.
That doesn’t sound like an exceptional way to live, does it?
I truly believe that the Christian ought to be the most joyous, hopeful, positive person in the world. And I confess, that’s not always me so I need this devotional reminder.
Our laughter as a Christian doesn’t come out of frivolity or worldly amusements. Real joy and God-honoring laughter comes from a close walk with Jesus. His Holy Spirit places within us the reason for joy and that joy is based in the work of Jesus in our lives.
Today, let the world see something different in you. Let it see something different in me. Grumpy, complaining people will be all around us, bringing along with them dark rain clouds sometimes filled with thunder and lightning. Let’s bring something different to the table. Let’s bring the SONshine of God’s love and the joy that the Son brings.
Remember the message found in Proverbs 17:22 and provide the “medication” this world desperately needs. “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
