I recently went through the hardest day of ministry since I answered this call over four years ago.
Actually, it was a very hard couple of weeks. Phone call after phone call, text after text, message after message– filled with tears and brokenness.
This particular day, I was just so sad about how fallen our world truly is. After several hours of walking with my friend though a very hard life experience, I did see the blessing that I was no overwhelmed by all the junk.
God was with us. And sometimes, in our darkest hour, He shows up in the most surprising ways.
In this instance, it was humor.
As I sat there in the ER with my friend, we talked, prayed, strategized and even joked a little bit. Yes, I am one of THOSE people who use humor to diffuse a hard situation. (Note: There is a time and place for that. Don’t ask me how I know.)
Later that day, as the dust was sorta-kinda-settling, we set out to have supper at another friend’s house. After the day we had, we just needed a taste of normalcy.
We were seeking community. Connection. And maybe even a little bit of laughter.
God did not disappoint.
Midway through the evening, the three of us gals were sitting in the living room, alternating between discussing the deep stuff to joking about the craziness of our situations.
The my friend’s almost-4-year-old daughter entered the scene. Within moments, this sweet girl had chucked a bouncy ball at the ceiling with great force. Naturally, it came back down and bonk! It thumped her right between the eyes.
All of us immediately did the motherly thing– we covered our mouth and waited with huge, surprised, amused eyes to see how the little girl would respond.
She rubbed her forehead, blinked, and said, “Ouch.” Then scampered off into the kitchen.
We erupted with peals of laughter. Air whooshed out of our lungs, and we belly laughed. Laughed until tears were streaming down our cheeks.
It was in that moment I heard God whisper, “This, my daughter, is a sign of hope.”
Even on one of the darkest days of my ministry experience, God gave us courage. Courage to find the humor in the toughest situations.
Admittedly, I have not always possessed courageous humor. I have been in places of such deep, wallowing self-pity, the enemy had a choke hold around my heart and I literally fought the urge to smile. I refused.
But you know what? That really got me no where.
Don’t get me wrong– there are some experiences where we are so broken, so hurt, so weary that it seems like we will never laugh again. But if we have courageous faith to believe, we CAN (and will) bubble over and belly laugh again.
Friends, do you have the faith to seek courageous humor? How do you make that a reality? Join in and leave a comment below.
Writing about the courage to find humor might seem, well, a little silly or maybe even unimportant. But when our laughter is rooted in faith and even more so, in Jesus, sometimes it really is the best medicine.
Cracking up for Christ,
“…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…” ~Ecclesiastes 3:4
Linking up today with my friend Kristin over at Three-word Wednesday and having a little Coffee for your Heart with Holley. Oh! And be sure to join our #EverydayJesus link-up community right here at 7 Days Time every Thursday!
