The Laughter

Rachel was enveloped in the profound sorrow of unfulfilled motherhood, yet the Still Small Voice whispered to her, “Join Me in laughter.”

How could she ever find joy when the relentless reminders of her advancing years taunted her at every turn? How could laughter emerge from someone who felt so empty?

Job 8:20-22 KJV
“Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he help the evil doers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, And thy lips with rejoicing.”

Sarah was barren, and Abraham would often find her looking sad and even quietly sobbing herself to sleep, making her ageless face look shrunken and old. They tried every herb they could find, but nothing happened. Abraham prayed and prayed—nothing happened; Sarah joined him, and together they fasted and prayed, yet nothing changed.

Rachel tried everything until she reached her breaking point and cried to her husband, “Give me children, or else I die!” But God said to her, “Join Me in laughter.”

Hannah prayed and cried, under intense mockery, until words failed her to express herself, and all she could do was cry and whisper in her heart.

The three Hebrew guys must have prayed until there was nothing else to say when they were being lifted by the able-bodied, strong men and thrown into the fiery, even-times-heated furnace.

Yet, the Word says, “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.” [Isaiah 54:1 KJV]

How or why should an unproductive person be singing?

Expectation of God
It is utterly challenging for a person with grave emotional pain to “break forth into singing,” yet this is the expectation of God for His people.

Why is this? Rachel did not know that “a son will be given, a child will be born…”

The one who is really behind all these troubles, Satan, the adversary, is laughing at the saint. He opposes and resists us, then challenges God that we’re not worthy of His love and attention. But God vouches for us that we, indeed, love Him. Then Satan would confront God with his moronic phrase, “Let me prove to You that he doesn’t.”

We see these adversarial challenges repeatedly in the Bible. It happened to Peter as much as to Job and Hannah, to name a few.

We see it as reality; we don’t deserve God’s love and mercies, but He chooses this path of benevolence to relate with us. Jesus emptied Himself of all the treasures of heaven except love to save us from the throw of hell.

The least we could do is demonstrate our appreciation by our love for Him that He knows the way through the evanescent wilderness.

The background events in Job’s case reveal much about how God deals with His children. He never goes out to hurt or cause pain to anyone, but there is an accuser and opposer to our well-being, the devil, called Satan – a sadist who revels in the pain and misfortune of humanity.

He works so hard like a determined magistrate to incarcerate by any means possible, even through innocently contrived circumstances.

Bildad, one of Job’s friends, concluded, “Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he help the evil doers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, And thy lips with rejoicing.” [Job 8:20 – 21 KJV]

In other words, God will not stop until He sees the tested person laughing and rejoicing.

When God confronted Sarah because she laughed upon hearing the definite promise from God that she would be a mother, she could have confessed, “I laughed because You made me laugh” in the abundant joy that flooded her soul like an overwhelming river; she would have witnessed God laugh with her in that instant. But she missed an eventful opportunity.

In the end, the promised child, when he arrived, was always making the whole family laugh.

Several years ago, I was in a church service where a husband testified to God’s goodness about how quickly his wife delivered their first baby. He began, “When she (the wife) got pregnant….” We all burst into joyous laughter. The young man said it as if it was another virgin conception, and he had nothing to do with it.

Would it not cause a peal of laughter to the hearers for a ninety-year-old woman to explain what she was doing with her husband to make a child?

With the twenty or thirty-something-year-olds, people wouldn’t be surprised; it won’t cause a burst of laughter; it is common, but not for the ninety-something-year-old woman.

Sarah explained to her friends, “After trying 9,999 times, God said we should do it one more time, and the 10,000th time produced a bundle of joy.” Can you imagine the burst of laughter in the company of family and friends?

It will throw the imagination into a racket that will only end in the calmness of laughter.

God desires to see joy alongside your family and friends in your life. He yearns for you to experience happiness and will tirelessly work to ensure that your heart overflows with laughter and joyful praise.

“Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he help the evil doers: Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, And thy lips with rejoicing.” [Job 8:20-22 KJV]

God wants you to witness, “They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; And the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.”

He wishes for two things to happen to them because of their wicked hearts. First, he wants them to wear clothes of shame, the opposite of what they used to wear while mocking you for a long time.

God saw their alienation and heard their mockery. He never forgets such people.

“Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: …. And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children …. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.” [1Samuel 1:1-2,6]

The Good News Bible says it like this, “Peninnah, her rival, would torment and humiliate her, because the LORD had kept her childless.”. God’s Word version rendered it this way, “Because the LORD had made her unable to have children, her rival Peninnah tormented her endlessly in order to make her miserable.”

If you have ever slept in the same room as a mosquito in a humid summer with no air conditioner, then you would begin to understand what Peninnah was doing to Hannah at every opportunity.

Peninnah either ignored the Creator or was too proud to acknowledge the part He played in blessing her with the children she had. As she did, God quietly watched, took notes, and laughed (Psalm 2:4).

At the right time, God implanted a prophet in Hannah’s womb, but nothing was heard of Peninnah again. Not only was she shut up, her body began to witness against her. “… and she that hath many children is waxed feeble”.

The word feeble from the Hebrew original, “‘âmal” means to be sick, to mourn, become weak. In other words, her body became weakened by childbirth. This could mean all sorts of post-partum problems such as cardiomyopathy, depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, incontinence, constipation, haemorrhoids, etc.

Her pride became her humiliation.

“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation… Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” [1 Samuel 2:1-3]

God will see to the destruction of the mocker’s habitation. That was what He did to the powerful people who terrorised and bullied King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah would tell you of his experience at the hands of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Sennacherib sent all sorts of terrifying messages, made all sorts of threats, and mocked the God of Hezekiah along the way. God quietly watched, took notes, and laughed.

Usually, God would work quietly in the background as the mockers made their loud noises, but in this case, after Hezekiah expressed himself to God through prayers and worship, God responded and said:

“The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.” [2Kings 19:21-22]

The second thing God does to the mockers is the destruction of their habitation. God later sent an angel to deal with him. Firstly, his entire national army of 185,000 soldiers was terminated overnight. Secondly, as he went back home disgracefully to worship the demons that humped his ego, his sons assassinated him at his shrine.

Child of the Most High, I dare you to stare down at that situation causing you sleeplessness and making you cry and start laughing like your Heavenly Father does. He expects you to join Him in this activity.

Scientifically, laughter has several effects on the brain. It increases the brain’s production of endorphins (the chemical that makes you feel like you can conquer Goliath and climb Mount Everest), which relieves pain, reduces stress, and boosts mood.

Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs, and muscles, and increases the endorphins released by your brain. It also improves your heart health, which is associated with a lower prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Laughter boosts your immunity; that is, it increases antibody-producing cells and enhances T-cell effectiveness.

The Berean Study Bible in Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” The English Revised Version renders: “Happiness is good medicine, but sorrow is a disease.”

Embrace the power of laughing with God as you navigate the deceptions and challenges posed by the contemporary Penninah, called Babylon, who mistakenly thinks she has triumphed. Soon, she will face the shame she deserves and be forgotten forever.

The son of Hannah shall soon come forth and manifest the glory of the Lord in the land of the living. His manifestation shall not be by human exertion but by the Spirit of the Lord.

Will you learn to laugh like your Father? Don’t wait until another time. Start right now. Are you still asking: How? God described it: As “the virgin the daughter of Zion who despises the enemy and laughs the enemy to scorn!”

Right now, pause what you are doing and laugh with God. Shock the adversary and laugh at the situation confronting you. Yes, laugh with God.

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