When God makes you laugh

An example of what can happen when we open ourselves to the presence of God.

Reading about Sarah's Bible
Do you remember Sarah's reaction when the three men, God's messengers, appeared in Abraham's tent and said that he and Sarah would have a child within a year? She laughed. How was this possible? It was too old. “I, give birth? At my age?"

Then he was afraid of laughing. Even pretending not to laugh. I lied to it, tried to get you out. What, do I laugh?

What I love about Sarah and many Bible characters is that she is so real. So like us. God gives us a promise that seems impossible. Wouldn't the first reaction be to laugh? And then be afraid.

I think Sarah is an example of what happens when God enters our lives and we are open to it. Things are never the same.

First of all, he had to change his name, a sign of his changed identity. She was Sarai. Her husband had been Abraham. They become Sarah and Abraham. We are all called something. So we feel the call of God and our whole identity changes.

We know a little about his sense of shame. Remember what happened to her before. He faced the humiliation, especially humiliating in those times, of not being able to have a child. She offered her servant Hagar to sleep with her husband and Hagar became pregnant.

This made Sarai feel, as she was called then, even worse. Then he banished Hagar into the desert. Hagar returns only when God's messenger intervenes and tells her that he will have to tolerate Sarai for a while. He has his promise for her too. He will bear a son named Ishmael, a name that means "God listens".

God listens to us all.

We know the end of the story. Old Sarah miraculously becomes pregnant. God's promise is fulfilled. She and Abraham have a son. The boy's name is Isaac.

Remember what that name means: sometimes this gets lost a bit in translation. Isaac in Hebrew means "laugh" or simply "laughter". This is my favorite part of Sarah's story. Answered prayers can bring endless joy and laughter. Promises kept are a source of joy.

Even after a journey of shame, humiliation, fear and disbelief. Sarah found out. By the grace of God, laughter and laughter were born.