Learning to Laugh at Ourselves

It was laughable that Abraham and Sarah would have a child now. After all, Abe was 100 years old, and Sarah not much younger. What would people think? This was so out-of-the-box that God would give them their promised son at such a ridiculous age, that they decided to laugh along with God. So they named their son 'Isaac'... meaning 'laughter.' Yet God was fulfilling His promise to give them a son who would influence the whole world.

Sometimes we get way too serious, starchy and stiff when it comes to God's promise to make us His witnesses. Maybe we need to learn to laugh at ourselves a little. After all, isn't God ordering our steps (Proverbs 16:9), just like Abraham and Sarah? If we need a good laugh, just look in the mirror! God has chosen US to be His ambassadors?!

Picture this likely conversation in heaven:

God: "Gabriel, I am going to challenge Tom Elie to share his faith everyday. You see, Tom has a problem, while he speaks to thousands from pulpits and international stages, he is scared to share his faith one-on-one. I know it seems odd that fear would rule him, but it's true. Even though he is afraid of failure, he is deciding to run right at his fears. And I will run with him."

God: "Gabriel, he doesn't know it yet, but this decision to share his faith daily will transform his life... and many others. Let's watch Tom together... this will be fun."

Someday we will get to watch heaven's videos of our life's metamorphosis. We will watch ourselves going from timid, to tender, to tenacious... and we will all laugh along with God!



Let's start now. Here's a hilarious video I found called Linebacker Evangelism. Let's learn to laugh at our shortcomings. God is!

Laughing while learning,

Tom Elie
Evangelist/President
Oasis World Ministries
www.oasisworldministries.org