Monday, September 14, 2009

joy in laughing

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried, stopped breathing, or became speechless?

My favorite result of laughter is finally taking the breath that has been locked inside by fear or pain. It's the all famous *sigh*. You don't even realize that you haven't been able to take a sigh of relief until someone takes you off guard and makes you laugh.  

That's what fear does to you. It steals your laughter, your smile, your joy. Fear captivates your attention. You choose to invite fear in, to entertain it, feed it, and let it dwell or kill it. 

You kill fear by choosing joy, choosing to laugh at the days to come. (see prov. 31:25 below)
  • "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." 

I get scared a lot.  I fear the future changing and not knowing where it will take me or leave me. The unknown freaks me out. Fear tells me to focus on myself and how "unfair" the unknown is. 

Fear is like a bad friend, telling you what you want to hear to pull you to their side.  As you lean on fear to hold you up through the unknown, it puts the finishing touch of "bad friend" by stabbing you in the back and robbing you of the joy of the moment. 

Joy comes when you look at fear in the face, slam the door, and return to your sweet fellowship with the Lord. Oh, He is so good to me. He knows the future, and I know Him. Therefore, I do not know fear. I know protection, acceptance, love, and pure joy. Joy in laughter. Joy in looking the biggest, scariest future situation in the face, and laughing because I know the best is yet to be. 

"Hey, if you can't laugh at life then you might as well make others laugh at it."