Laughter is a major part of my life. It defines who I am and how I react to the world around me.
If you’re in my presence for any extended period of time, chances are you’re going to hear me laugh. Maybe more than once.
The Holy Spirit Brings Joy and Laughter
One day, I walked into the fellowship hall at church, laughing in response to something someone (maybe my husband) said.
An older lady in the congregation turned to me and said, “Mishael, you are always laughing. Why do you laugh so much?”
With a smile, I shrugged and said, “It’s better to laugh than to cry.”
There are probably many reasons why laughter is my go-to response to just about everything. But the one thing I believe to be the truest (at least, I hope it’s the truest reason) is that Jesus and the Holy Spirit fill my heart and soul with joy, and sometimes it just comes bubbling out.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NIV)
I’m not always happy. I’m not always joy-filled. But I can almost always find some reason to laugh.
Messiah’s Promise: Life, Love, and Laughter
On the first day of Passover 2025, I attended our local Christian writers meeting, where we had a mini-Passover Seder during our fellowship and devotional time.
As part of the celebration, we sang a song called “Come, Let Us Sing.”
The first two stanzas of that song say:
Come, let us sing, let us rejoice,
Come, let us sing, let us rejoice.
Messiah’s come, and He brought life,
and He brought laughter into my soul.It would have been enough, if He brought life,
It would have been enough, if He brought peace.
It would have been enough, if He brought joy,
but He brought laughter into my soul.
Abraham, Sarah, and God’s Promise
As we sang that song about Messiah coming and bringing life and laughter into our souls, I smiled. And I remembered how Abraham and Sarah laughed when God promised them a son (Genesis 17:17 and 18:12). At the time, Abraham laughed for joy because he believed God (Genesis 15:6). There still seemed to be a little skepticism in Abraham’s response, but the main emotions Abraham felt at hearing God’s promise were hope and joy (John 8:56). God’s response to Sarah indicates that her laughter may have been tinged with more than a little disbelief.1
However, a year later, she was laughing for joy, along with her husband (Genesis 21).
Isaac – Faith Made Sight
In Genesis 17, God told Abraham what the name of his promised son would be. Isaac, which means “laughter,” or “he laughs.” God gave life to Isaac and laughter to Abraham’s and Sarah’s souls when his birth was promised and when it came to pass.
When Isaac grew up, God gave Abraham laughter as a reward for obedience.
In a somewhat shocking move, God told Abraham:
“Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” (Genesis 22:2, NIV)
As much as Abraham loved Isaac, he loved God more. He didn’t trust in the reality of Isaac’s presence in his life more than he trusted in the reality of God’s ability to bring him back from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).
When God called on Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham did not hesitate to obey. And God provided a substitute sacrifice on the mountain. The Bible doesn’t say specifically, but I imagine there was some joyful laughter that day as Abraham and Isaac returned home. There might have been some relieved laughter too, since Abraham didn’t have to explain to Sarah why he killed their son!
Joy as a Blessing for Trusting God
That story is a picture of what God did for us when he sent Jesus, His only Son whom He loved,2 for us.
Abraham told his son:
“God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.“ (Genesis 22:8, NIV)
He did it for Abraham and he did it for us, by providing the pure, spotless Lamb, Jesus (1 Peter 1:19).
God gave Abraham’s soul laughter when he passed his test of faith. And it’s what He does for us even today. He gives our souls laughter, even when we go through hard things.
Especially if we go through hard times because we belong to Him.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. … Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:10-12, NIV)
The Spiritual Power Behind Laughter
The Amplified version renders Matthew 5:11 as:
“Blessed [morally courageous and spiritually alive with life-joy in God’s goodness] are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of [your association with] Me.”
Even in the midst of trials, we can experience streams of life-joy flowing through us because of the Holy Spirit. We can laugh in the face of trouble because He is good. He promises good for those of us who love Him,3 and His promises never fail4.
- These two different responses to the supernatural announcement of an upcoming birth were mirrored a couple thousand years later by Zechariah and Mary, as recorded in Luke 1. These were two distinct births, however, as opposed to the singular birth of Isaac. ↩︎
- See, for example, Matthew 3:17 and John 3:16. ↩︎
- See Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28. ↩︎
- See Psalm 145:13 and Luke 1:37. ↩︎
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