The Last Laugh

“Then the Lord said to Abraham, ‘Why did Sarah laugh?’”  Genesis 18:13

I would have chuckled—and so would you.  

After many decades of marriage, the table was still set for two, and since Abraham had sired a son with a servant, the fingers of fault pointed at Sarah.  By eighty-nine candles on the cake, most women would have gotten over it, but the stigma and sting of an empty cradle still haunted Sarah’s heart.

Then three men arrived at midday.  Ever the hospitable host, Abraham invited them to come in, cool off, and chow down.  They picnicked under a shade tree, with Abraham standing close by.  “Where’s your wife?” they wondered.  “Over there, in the tent,” he replied.  One of the men (who was God in the guise of a guy) said, “I’ll be back in a year, and by then, she’ll have a baby boy.”

The snooping Sarah could hardly believe her ears.  In fact, she couldn’t.  She laughed to herself as she thought, “After I’m too tired and Abe’s too old, will we now be blessed with a little bundle?”

When God asked why she laughed, Sarah lied and said she didn’t—but she did.  God didn’t let her off the hook, but He didn’t let her down either.  At ninety years old, Sarah cuddled her newborn son.  Then she handed the crying kid off to his century-year-old daddy.

They named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.”  “Sarah said, ‘God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”  Especially God, who delighted to have the last laugh!

Embrace your Isaacs—those running-around, right-before-you reminders that sometimes God does something so hilariously incredible that all you can do is laugh!