The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. (Psalm 145:9 ESV)
Definitions
Intuitively, most folk understand what humor is. We know when an event is funny. We know what circumstances are funny. We know that some things just make us laugh.
Humor and laughter are found in Scripture. Usually described by narrative… sometimes described by definitions.
We see mocking laughter in the Bible. We see laughing in acknowledgement of victory in the Bible. We see joy that results in laughter in the Bible. We see contentment that leads to laughter in the Bible.
My usual go-to understanding of humor, funny, and laughter starts with the idea of incongruity. We notice a disconnect between expectations and reality. And when that incongruity is pleasant, we sometimes find humor. Laughter is often a reaction to an extremely surprising (but pleasant) distance between what we think is going to occur, and what actually ends up happening.
Why would I think the Bible would have anything to say about such occurrences? Because God’s Word creates and develops our expectations for today’s and tomorrow’s events. God describes for His people a true picture of reality, and that picture is sometimes different than what we expect and experience.
For the next few weeks, let’s wander around the idea of expectations. What do we expect our world and our lives to be like? What is our strongest source of expectations?
And when our expectations do not meet with our reality, what is our reaction?
Because God is GOOD, His plans are GOOD. Our earthbound expectations are often in conflict with the beautiful, bright, and dare I say fun plans that God is enacting around us, and in us.
I believe that we need more laughter amongst God’s people.
And I am expecting the Bible to display that.
God is good… so we can find reasons to laugh.