“He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” Job 8:21 (NIV)
Devotion:
I come from a long line of laughers. You can quickly identify anyone in my family because when we laugh, we cry. Sounds strange, but it’s true.
My sisters and I have mascara running down our faces most of the time when we laugh. And my brother (if he wore mascara) is the same way. Our shoulders shake, too, and we clap our hands together. A mental picture might make one think we resemble seals flapping their flippers together but I assure you, it’s just laughter.
While we all experience sadness when laughter is totally inappropriate, there are also those moments when laughter makes tough situations seem not so tough.
Let me give you some examples: the time my son released about 200 lightning bugs in our home one evening to see if he would need his nightlight. (We spit bugs out of our mouths for two days.)
Or the time I walked into his bedroom and he had drawn, cut out and super glued the solar system and every last star he could remember on his freshly painted ceiling. (He had been grounded to his room for trying to fly off the garage – not once, but twice).
How about the day I got to the checkout at a discount store and found that I had evidently picked up the only package of personal products without a price on it and the clerk had to call over the intercom: “Hey, Daisy, we need a price check on a 24-count package of . . .”
And then there was that phone call from the cleaners to let me know that I had forgotten to pick up a pair of pants and when I stopped in to get them, realized they were UNDERpants!
Today’s Key Scripture from Job 8:21 says “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”
That is an encouragement to me when the “stuff” of everyday situations in life pushes me to fill my mouth with anger or gossip or hurtful words. When I can learn to react with laughter, my heart will be full of “shouts of joy” instead of whining and complaining. How about you? Can you relate?
Long after the situation is over, you will be remembered for the words that you spoke. Either they will cause heartache, shame and embarrassment or they will affirm the love of Jesus in your life because you showed mercy and forgiveness.
People are always sharing how they want to be remembered. Dr. James Dobson said that his mother wanted printed on her tombstone: “I told you I was sick!”
As for me, there’s no doubt that I want to be remembered as a Christian wife and mother but after that, there is only one sentence that counts: “She sure knew how to laugh!”
My Prayer for Today:
Father, please help me to remember how blessed I am and to keep my mouth and heart filled with laughter. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Reflection:
Can you think of a tough situation that would not have been nearly as tough if you had taken a moment to just smile and laugh at what had happened?
Application:
Journal a few comments about situations during the last 7 days in which your response should have been laughter but instead you reacted completely opposite.
Beside each entry, write down how you could have changed the outcome if you had chosen laughter and a smile.
Memorize Job 8:21 and ask the Lord to bring it to mind when the next temptations come to speak hurtful words rather than use laughter to change the situation.
Power Verses:
Job 8:21 (NIV) “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.”
Psalm 126:2 (NIV) “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’”
Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NIV) “. . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance . . .”
(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing and information about her books, go to her website.)
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