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 would have gotten over it, but the stigma and sting of an empty cradle still haunted Sarah’s heart.

The three men arrived around 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.  Then 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 eavesdropping 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?”

God asked why she laughed.  Sarah lied and said she didn’t.  God didn’t let her off the hook, but He didn’t let her down either. At ninety, Sarah cuddled her newborn son and then 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”(Gen. 21:6).

Embrace your Isaacs. They are those running-around, right-before-you reminders that sometimes God does something so hilariously incredible that all you can do is shake your head, shout your praise—and laugh!