Laugh More-It's Biblical

     In some churches laughter is often looked at as irreverent, childish, or immature. Yes, it can defeinitely be out of place at times, but laughter is a common theme in the heart of God. C.S. Lewis said, "Joy is the serious business of Heaven."

     If you can think of an area of your life right now where you are getting opposition, a healthy response can always be laughter. Yes, hearty gut rocking laughter. Trust me, it will benefit you greatly, it’s even biblical. Psalm 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. (NASB) I would highly encourage you to read Psalm 2:4 in context as well. God’s response to attacks on His ‘Anointed One’ are, mocking and laughter. Who is His "Anointed One?" Jesus, and where does Jesus live? Inside of us. So an attack on you is an attack on Him, and God is so confident in His ability to turn what the enemy does around in his face and use it against him that His response is to laugh and mock th devil. God often uses the enemy as a pawn for His own plans, perfect example… the Cross.

     In Ephesians chapter 5 it says this in the first verse, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;" (NASB). So imitate your loving Father and laugh at the enemies attempts to derail God’s plan in you, through you, and through His body on earth. You see God doesn’t see problems, He sees solutions. God is obviously not in denial of the problems, He is just extremely confident in His solutions. Your response to attacks should not be limited to laughs alone.

     Psalm 2: 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: 6 "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." 7 "I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’" (NKJV) The enemy wants you focusing on his trivial and small attempts to disrupt God's Master plan for your life. God says, "Laugh!" Then keep your eyes on and in the Glory and your inheritance that Christ paid for. Your inheritance is the nations of this earth. Christ died and paid for everything and He desires that you don’t get distracted by lies. Why? So the lies and silly attacks don’t steal your joy (your ability to laugh). Laughter clears the fog so you can see God clearer. When your state of being is laughter, rejoicing, and joy you see the Author and Perfecter of your faith in much finer detail.

     God says to keep your eyes fixed on Him and what He is doing and His promises, and laugh when distractions come. God laughs, then directs you to look at what He is doing, not the enemy. He laughs because His Son already defeated the enemy and is now victoriously sitting on the throne. God laughs because before you and I ever had a need, supply has been there. Revelation 13:8… the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

     He laughs because He is going to give you the nations as your inheritance and He is going to thrash the already defeated devil even more so through you in the midst of opposition. Your part? Believe it, walk in it and walk it out with Jesus. Look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, Heb. 12:2. Even Jesus had His mind set on the countenance of joy while He endured you and I’s punishment on the cross. That’s how amazing this countenance of joy and laughter is. It’s such a hot commodity that the prize of joy unspeakable, in unlimited and never ending measure, helped Jesus endure that most intense punishment that any person has every endured.

     Luke 6:21 "Blessed [are] you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed [are] you who weep now, for you shall laugh. (NASB) The Greek word for ‘you shall laugh’ is – gelaó- to laugh (as a sign of joy or satisfaction) – laugh… Strongs Concordance. Again, satisfaction and laughter are a blessing in the New Covenant. Laughter is your response to the feeling of His goodness within. You may have trouble putting words to it, but your laughter is all that need be expressed. 1 Peter 1:8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (NASB).

     The world is desperate for joy. Think about it. They do anything for it. All the self-medicating, thrill seeking, therapy, sex, drugs, and I’m sure we could all add many more to this list. All that the world is trying to get from all the wrongs places is found in the purest form inside the Christ. Not religion, the Christ. The King of Kings! Peace that passes all understanding and Joy unspeakable are absolutely free and come in never ending increase. So many are working so hard for peace, joy, pleasure, and love when it’s all free in measures that are unfathomable. Let’s show the world how free all this goodness is, so they can stop looking for fool’s gold in all the wrong places.

     Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (ESV) One third of the Kingdom is joy and the biblical definition of laughter is that it is a response to your feeling the kingdom within. Maybe you haven’t realized it yet, but God is happy. Yes, He is ecstatically happy! The word ‘blessed’ in the New Testament in the Greek is makarios- happy, blessed, to be envied, Strongs Concordance. I think we could all agree that God is quite blessed. The enemy is always attacking somehow and in some way, and God’s response to attacks on His Anointed One is laughter. The devil thought he was defeating God when he nailed Jesus to the cross, God laughed! Of course God felt the pain of His Son, and feels our pain and comforts us in our distress. But God sees the bigger picture of goodness awaiting us, and that forces a happy laughter in Him.

     But did you know that laughter carries immense health benefits? I would encourage you to do your own homework on this matter, and rather than me sight references I will share some general themes from what I found while researching this fascinating topic. Laughter increases the release of endorphins in your brain, endorphins are the "feel good brain chemicals". Laughter reduces stress, pain, and even helps you digest food better and faster. Also, fifteen minutes of laughter is as beneficial to your body as two hours of sleep, so laugh it up! With the increasing finds on the benefits of laughter to our physical and emotional make up(and unbeknownst to the medical community our spiritual being as well), I have a funny feeling that this list will increase over time.

     Did you also know that your body does not know the difference between fake laughter and real laughter? So fake laugh until real laughter overtakes you and receive the same health benefits and let the same amounts of ‘feel good brain chemicals’ be released during the entire laughter process. You may say, "that’s hypocritical, and I won’t just fake laugh." Suit yourself, but maybe this will change your mind. Have you realized yet that in the kingdom rejoicing when you don’t feel like it will shift your mind and feelings into feeling like it? "In the world they rejoice because they are joyful, in the Kingdom we rejoice to become joyful," Bill Johnson. Just read through many of the Psalms, and you will see King David’s mood and perspective shift from fear and worry… to rejoicing and into joy and hope. You will see this many times in the Psalms. Psalm 116 is a good one to check out.

     Not really feeling it today? Laugh, even fake laugh until it’s real laughter. Feeling pretty good today? Cool, make it a better day and laugh. Either way, laughter should be part of our daily lives in the Kingdom. It is a powerful statement to our confidence in the God that sacrificed His Son so He could live in us. Laugh it up!!