“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1
Our Proverbs Bible study read this passage this past Wednesday and it reminded me: One evening as I was waiting in line for Wednesday Night Supper, Roz Headley asked me about my marathon training. After listening graciously to me blather on about running times and distances, she said with a twinkle in her eye, “Well, you know what the Good Book says, 'Only the wicked run when no one is chasing them!' ”
All of us within earshot got quite the laugh. Another St John member, Diane and Hugh Miller, suggested we watch Dry Bar Comedy, clean stand-up comedy sketches on YouTube. A couple evenings this week, we sat with our kids, and just laughed and laughed and laughed together.
Friends, the times are stressful, but laughter is a gift from God and has a healing quality for the current state of our souls. I encourage you to find some way to engage in laughter today. Make up a silly song to Les Miserables or My Sharona. Play the game Twister and collapse in a laughing heap together. Have a Just Dance party in your basement with your immediate family members. Find some way to introduce a good belly laugh into your life sometime today.
O Lord our God, grant us the gift of mirth even amidst these trying times. Remind us that you came in the person of Jesus that we might have life ABUNDANTLY and joyously. Inspire your joy and laughter in us today. Amen.
- Pastor Andy Bartel
“A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22