“Hello, children of God. What makes you laugh? Everyone likes to laugh, right? So when was the last time you had a good chuckle? Do you like a good joke? I hope so because it just so happens I have some great ones. Really, get ready.
Okay, so here’s the first one. Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants to the golf course? Give up? Because he thought he might get a hole in one! Hole in one, get it? Like hole in one golf. Yeah, oh that’s a good one.
Okay, okay, don’t worry, it’s better. Why can’t a nose be 12 inches? Because then it would be a foot! Foot, foot, foot, ruler, 12 inches. Oh man, all right, don’t worry, it’s okay. What do you get when you cross a fish and an elephant? Swimming trunks! Yeah, yeah, you know you’re laughing. Really.
Oh, did you hear that one about the broken pencil? It had no point because it’s a broken pencil. Why was a strawberry so upset? Because it was in a jam. Okay, okay, here’s the best one. I saved the best for last, don’t worry. Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl in the bathroom? This one’s so good I’m gonna make you wait for it. Feel like you’ve been waiting a while? Just a little longer, it’s worth it, it’s worth the punchline. You know why? Because the P is silent! Silent, the letter, the letter P, but he’s in the bathroom, so it’s okay.
Maybe that wasn’t that good. Maybe you didn’t think it was really worth waiting for. There are some wonderful things in that are very much worth waiting for. And there are some times in our lives where we have to wait for things. And there are some times in life where we laugh.
Well, today we’re talking about a story that features waiting and laughter. It’s about a man named Abraham. He was originally known as Abram, and then God changed his name to Abraham. His wife Sarah was later called Sarah because God does that sometimes, he gives you a new name. But anyways, that’s not the story today.
God had made a promise to Abraham, but Abraham had to wait quite a while for this promise to come true. God had promised Abraham that he was going to be the father of many nations, that he was going to have more descendants, more sons and daughters, and grandsons and granddaughters, and great-great-great-great-great-great grandsons than he could even count. But the interesting thing is that when God made this promise to him, Abraham didn’t have any children at all. In fact, he and Sarah had never had kids, which in those days was really quite a tragic thing. People had to have children to pass on to the next generation, so they were quite sad that they didn’t have children and quite perplexed when God promised this great nation would come of him. He didn’t even have a single heir. But Abraham trusted in God.
Well, I mean for a while. But years passed and nothing happened. So after a while, they probably kind of gave up, figured well maybe God sort of meant this but it doesn’t seem like he’s really doing anything, nothing’s happening, we still don’t have any children.
Well, finally, more than 20 years after that original promise, Abraham and Sarah received
some special visitors. They came to their tent and they knew there was something important about them, so they made them a very nice meal and served them and talked to them. These visitors, who spoiler alert were actually angels, told Abraham, “I’m gonna come back and visit again in about a year, and this time, your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah heard that and she just laughed. “What? A son? Me?” See, by that time, Abraham was almost 100 years old and Sarah was 90, which is very, very old to have children. Pretty impossible, she thought. It was impossible, which is why she laughed. But don’t always want to laugh at God. Sometimes I think that God laughs at us. I know he does that to me when I try to tell him what my plans are. But Sarah laughed and these people who said, “You’re gonna have a son,” well, that’s not possible. And they said, “Really? Is anything too hard for God?” Really? Well, that kind of quieted her down a little bit, but it still seemed pretty unlikely.
Sure enough, a year later, she had a son. Anything is possible with God, and what he promises, he will do. Abraham and Sarah had kind of faltered their trust in that promise. They sort of gave up, thought maybe it would just never happen. It seemed impossible. Sometimes things seem to us impossible, but nothing is too hard for God. Nothing is impossible for him, and things that shouldn’t happen, he can do. And what he promises, he will do. Sometimes it feels like it takes forever, like it takes too long, but God’s timing is different than ours. He always has a plan and a purpose for us and will work that out for our good. He has wonderful plans for our lives, and he knows just what he’s doing.
He knew what he was doing with Abraham and Sarah because their son had two more sons, and they had more sons, and more, and more, and more, and it grew and grew into the nation of Israel. Of course, God kept his promises. So we can trust in God too. God promises to love us, care for us, provide for us, and bless us. Sometimes we don’t understand how he’s doing that. We struggle, we get impatient, we aren’t sure what he’s doing, but he’s always working, and he always keeps his promises. Sometimes with laughter on both parts, but he’s always there, always present with us, and no matter what, we can trust him.
That son that Abraham and Sarah had, they named him Isaac. Isaac, which means laughter. So laugh with God and trust that he will see you through whatever is happening.
Why don’t we say a prayer and thank God for that now? Dear God, thank you for giving us laughter and thank you for your promises. Help us to trust in you, even when we feel impatient and even when we don’t understand what you’re doing. You’re always at work in our lives. Thank you for your promises, thank you for your love. We love you, God, in Jesus’ name, amen.
So trust in God, laugh a little, and go make some disciples. Have a great week, come back for more. Hope that this blesses you and your ministry, wherever and with whomever that might be. See you next time.”
The video was published on June 10, 2023, and is aimed at children’s ministry, Sunday School lessons, kids ministry, children’s sermons, Bible crafts, Genesis 18, Genesis 21, Isaac, Abraham and Sarah, and laughter.