Sure Laughter

I recently came across two verses in my Bible reading that I can't get out of my head, mostly because of one word. One of the verses is well-known and well-loved; the other is embedded between other well-known verses but is in itself unknown. Here they are:

Proverbs 31:25
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

Psalm 37:13
But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that his day is coming.

The word is laughs.

There are many types of laughter. There is the polite laughter when your boss says something he thinks is very funny and you are compelled to join in. There is hilarious laughter after your friend places an order at a restaurant by saying, and only saying, 'Burger me.' There is giggling laughter when your daughter figures out you're ticklish on your feet and gets her little fingers working. There is derisive laughter when something utterly absurd takes place and there's really nothing else you can do.

But the laughter here is something altogether different. It is unique among types of laughter, and I would say it is specific to those who are in Christ.This is sure laughter. As in, I can laugh because I am sure of where my real hope lives. It has nothing to do with knowing what is to come and everything to do with knowing Who's in control of it all. It is the laughter of absolute confidence, of faith, of God.

The Proverbial woman laughs because, by God's grace, she has ordered her home well. She has prepared and planned. She has worked and saved. She has loved and honored God and her husband and her kids - in  that order. And so she gazes into the future, stares down the uncertainty, looks it right in the face, and laughs at it.

The encouragement from the psalm is simply that no one gets over on God. People may be around that mock and slander. Perhaps they persecute and attack. They gossip. They backstab. They undercut. They curse. They abuse. But without repentance, they simply cannot sidestep His justice. It is at this, the notion that one can pull a fast one on Him, that God laughs. *I also believe He weeps over these same people. God is infinitely more complex than we are.*

I love the thought of laughing at situations that are potentially worrisome or fearful. Being able to laugh at those moments accomplishes two things:
1) It disarms Satan of any power he might try to exert in using the situation to evoke fear, anxiety, or the perpetuation of lies.
2) It displays full trust and delight in knowing God has it handled, and He will handle it perfectly.

Jesus is King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords. He is the true Master, the Great Shepherd, Almighty God, Alpha and Omega, Firstborn from the Dead, the Bright and Morning Star, Rescuer, Savior, Healer, Deliverer, and, amazingly, Friend.

When we really believe in who God is, we are able to look into any circumstance and walk away laughing.