Crazy Bird 
"A cheerful heart has a continual feast." - Proverbs 15:15
THE MAKER OF LAUGHTER LOVES LAUGHTER
Will there be laughter in heaven? Of course. God created it!
Have you ever analyzed laughter? Laugh right now. (Just don’t let anyone see you.) Laughter is a series of rapid spasms of your diaphragm in little bursts. It’s actually a bit weird when you think about it…but God made it, so it does the trick.
Sometimes we laugh so hard that we can’t stop. Something strikes a funny bone and someone begins laughing so much that they begin to cry. It gets louder and harder. Pretty soon everyone’s laughing so hilariously they can barely breathe! It’s fun…but exhausting.
Is God pleased with holy laughter? Of course.
The Bible even says that a “merry heart is good medicine.”
Scientists have found that it’s true. Laughter and happiness release chemicals called endorphins which help heal the body.
What about Jesus?
JESUS’ JOY
Hebrews 1:9 says something amazing about Jesus, “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.” Jesus lived in holiness in all His actions and all His thoughts. That’s quite incredible. Because of this, He had more joy than all those around Him.
What a powerful motivation to greater inner holiness!
Jesus laughed and had joy. Maybe that was the biggest magnet that drew people to Him.
BOMBS AWAY!
I had something funny happen when I was a college student that taught me a profound lesson about the source of joy.
Five of my friends got up early one Saturday and decided to go to a park for devotions. We did what we often did which was assign five chapters to read from the Bible then go somewhere by ourselves and spend time alone with the Lord for an hour. Afterward we met at a picnic bench to discuss what we read and to share personal prayer requests.
I don’t know what was going on that day, but everything seemed hilarious. After we got back together we shared verses, but funny things just kept happening. We eventually were convulsing with laughter and started getting teary-eyed because we were laughing so hard. I know the Lord was having fun with us.
Then the craziest thing happened.
We were reading the devotional page for the day out of a book called My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (It’s a great book that you must get.). As I sat on the bench, a bird flew somewhere overhead. It dropped a present that landed squarely on my open book. That was too much. My friends couldn’t contain themselves. What a shot!
When I took a napkin and wiped away the unwelcome mess. I couldn’t believe the words it landed on: “…the uncommon beauty of the commonplace…” Oh, how I howled! I could barely get the words out as I tried to tell my friends. We laughed so hard that we nearly fell off of our picnic bench! You can’t get more “common place” than what pelted my book so squarely!
What a time of devotions. We left with lots of endorphins that day. And I also left with some life-long lessons on the importance of laughter.
BRINGING MORE JOY IN
Realigning yourself and your intentions to the Lord and finding God’s joy-perspective is so important. You don’t have to have an hour…even small moments of concentrated time with the Lord can replace stress, heaviness, sadness and missed opportunities and bring the amazing gifts of value, love and laughter to your hours. Concentrated minutes with the Lord increase the fruitfulness of a day exponentially. They can crown the drab and dull with joy and God’s purpose.
So take the time to reassess, realign and rejoice.
It matters everything.
"A cheerful heart has a continual feast." - Proverbs 15:15
A cheerful heart brings subtle and important perceptions of how to ride the moments. This tunes us into the desires and will of God and His resulting goodness.
Don Miller
