He Laughed, She Laughed…They Laughed (Patriarch Series)

Laughter is used to express various emotions. 

We use the expression…”I laughed to keep from crying” to hide the hurt inside.

Or we laugh when we are nervous calling it a “nervous laugh”.

“I laugh at the face of danger” because for some crazy reason we think we are bigger than danger.

Or we laugh simply because something is funny.

In the case of the birth announcement of the second Patriarch, Isaac there was laughter…laughter of disbelief, disregard, and laughter of hope.

HE LAUGHED…disbelief!

God says- “I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Abraham fell facedown; HE LAUGHED and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’” Genesis 17:16, 17 NIV

Can we walk this path with Abraham for just a moment? He gets word from God that his wife of ninety years old is going to have a baby! Come on, let’s picture this…ninety years old! I had my youngest son at the age of 32 and thought I would fall over from exhaustion.  Let’s add 60 years to that! My mind can’t even imagine what that would look like. A little wrinkly and droopy in some key areas! But nevertheless, a pregnant ninety-year-old woman.

Now let’s look at Abraham’s response…HE LAUGHED! Not only did he laugh, but he also fell over laughing! But his laughter never made it out of his head. It says, “he laughed and said to himself.”

Were his thoughts and laughter meant only for himself?

What did it mean? Disbelief…joy?

I think the answer is in his response…

              “And Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Genesis 17:18 NIV

Abraham was laughing internally and responding outwardly with IF ONLY…

If only God. “God, your plan is crazy. There is no way Sarah, or I can have a child at this age…

If only…I have another plan that should work just as well…

If only Ishmael…he is already born and ready to go…

If only…then the laughter dies!

SHE LAUGHED…disregard!

“…and Sarah your wife will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent,…  Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So SARAH LAUGHED to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?’” Genesis 18:10-12 NIV

Let’s sit with Sarah a bit and listen to her laughter. She was eavesdropping on a conversation between her husband, Abraham and some random strangers who had wandered into their campground.  Earlier in this story Abraham was having a moment with God while sitting in the entrance to his tent during the heat of the day.  He was experiencing the presence of God when he looked up and saw three men. He must have known that these men were sent from God because he “bowed low to the ground” when he met them.

As Abraham was talking with these men, Sarah made her way to the edge of the tent.  Standing in the shade of the entrance, she overheard the conversation between Abraham and the strangers.

              “’Where is your wife Sarah?’ they asked him.

              ‘There, in the tent,’ he said.

Then one of them said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’”

Standing in the tent, Sarah could hear all of this. A mixture of emotions went through her heart.  The longing for a child never completely diminished. Year after year, her hopes to hold a child in her arms were dashed. When she was younger, she could imagine the feel of an infant’s soft skin against her own. She longed to experience the toddlers grasp and watch her young child play. But over time she had to put those hopes aside because the pain of being childless was more than she could bear. She had lost all hope and had become callous to the thought of being a mother. As she stood hearing this news, the calloused heart began to soften. But letting down her guard and feeling this hope again was out of the question, so SHE LAUGHED! Her laughter was not her disbelief but her disregard. Treating this news as unworthy of notice, she laughed to protect her broken heart.

THEY LAUGHED…hope!

“Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.   Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.  Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son, Sarah bore him.  When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.  Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

Sarah said, ‘God has brought me LAUGHTER, and everyone who hears about this will LAUGH with me.’” Genesis 21:1-6 NIV

It’s a boy!!!!

Patriarch number two is born! In the form of an infant, Isaac brought hope and laughter! A lot of laughter! “…God has brought me LAUGHTER…” This laughter was in celebration of the birth of Isaac but more importantly it was a laughter of hope.

As Sarah sat holding her newborn son, she couldn’t help but laugh in celebration. As his soft skin touched hers, she celebrated. The euphoric feeling of motherhood was now hers. No longer would she walk through the campground experiencing looks of pity from the other mothers, but she could now hold her head high because she too was a mom.

“and everyone who hears about this will LAUGH with me…”  Laughter not only came from Sarah’s lips but from the lips of those around her. Year after year, the women who gathered at the well spoke of the misfortune of Sarah not being able to bear Abraham a child. Some ridiculed her holding themselves in higher regard as they held their own children. Some pitied her. And some walked the same path of a barren woman.  But they ALL LAUGHED once Isaac was born. Their laughter was celebration, but it was also hope. Looking into the face of Isaac gave hope beyond their imagination. From that moment on when circumstances in their lives seemed without hope, they simply thought of Isaac and laughed…a laughter of hope that God can do far than we can even imagine!

Our lives, too, are caught up in the laughter of disbelief, disregard, and hope.

When God approaches us with a promise that is out of our box of thinking, we respond with the laughter of disbelief.  Can God really do as He said He was going to do? “Lord, I believe. But help my unbelief.”

Then there are times that we simply disregard God and his promises causing a quiet laughter within us. When God wants to use us to advance His kingdom, we disregard Him treating the news as unworthy of notice.

 But then when we see the fulfillment of that promise with our own eyes or own heart, we celebrate in our laughter.  The celebration isn’t as much for the fulfillment of promise as it is a representation of hope for the future.  As we laugh, we are reminded that God’s promises give us hope whether here on earth or hope for an eternal existence in Heaven.

What does your laughter mean today?

I will be taking a break next week as I will be focusing on writing my book.  When I return, we will continue with the story of the 2^nd Patriarch.