Laughing With God

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. --Job 8:21

On my drive home from work last night, I found myself cruising along behind a killer whale. Lest you think I started nipping at the eggnog a bit early, let me say that it wasn't an actual whale. It was a company car from Sea World decorated to look like Shamu. Instead of a spoiler, there was a large, fanned out tail. The roof of the car sported a shiny dorsal fin where I expected to see a radio antenna.

Whenever I see things like that pop up in unexpected places, I smile and even laugh to myself. A whale on the freeway, even a fake one, is certainly out of context, and it reminds me that God has a sense of humor. That aspect of His character is precisely what makes Him a personal God. He enjoys making us smile just as much as we like seeing our friends' faces light up with a grin. On the days when life seems too serious and 'grown up', I like to think about the more lighthearted things, even if only for a short time. Here's just one example of that:

About 10 years ago, a friend of mine broke his leg during a soccer game. In a get well card our youth group sent, I included what I thought was a reference to an encouraging Bible verse. I wrote "Neh. 6:8" next to my signature in the card. I thought that I was referencing "the joy of the Lord is your strength." When I looked it up later, I found that Nehemiah 6:8 says "nothing like what you are saying is happening to you. You are making it up out of your head."

Whoops! So much for my good intentions. What's funny is that the reference does still make sense a bit for a 'get well soon' situation.

Although some situations don't lend themselves very well to humor, and there are times when joking is completely inappropriate, we need to remember that our God finds joy in things just as much as we do. He delights in us, and joys over us with singing. Without the ability to find lighthearted humor in a variety of circumstances, we run the risk of becoming boring, stone-faced individuals who forget to experience joy at every turn. Our heavenly Father, the giver of all good things, wants to fill our mouths with laughter and hear us sing with joy--even if doing so seems out of context.