Stress Test Devotional April 27
April 27, 2024
When redemption comes we are like those who dream. Our mouth filled with laughter, our tongue with shouts of joy!
What happens when we forget life’s incongruities? When we seek to be spiritual in ways disconnected from our humanity, our mortality and our web of real relations? We lose our laughter! Laughter, not cynical or mean, but real laughter is a sign we understand the unlikely character of our redemption and our great need for it!
Laughter, holy joy, helps us to see ourselves and others as we truly are. I laugh at myself frequently when I pray! Sometimes I laugh at God’s surprising provisions like Sarah at the thought of giving birth in the convalescent center. (See Genesis 17:17.) God insisted on “Isaac” as the name of Abraham and Sarah’s child—it means “laughter.” This was not a reminder that they’d doubted the promise—but a way to recall God’s power to overcome our skepticism and limits. They were joyful when “laughter” began to cry and crawl and grow! Laughter is key to Christian community.
Prayer
Holy One, Let my laughter never dry up. Let it be real and holy and good, not aimed at others. Instead, let me laugh at the wonderful way you bring life out of death and joy from mourning. Let me laugh at myself. I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
