DAILY READING
REFLECTION
God Has the Last Laugh
by Katie Borden
Have you ever had someone lie to your face about something you know without a doubt is true?
I currently work with elementary school children. It happens to me all the time.
My favorite is when a student knows I am actively watching them do whatever it is they are not supposed to be doing, and then they still have the gall to tell me, “It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”
This is probably why I get an absolute kick over watching Sarah try to argue with God that she didn’t do what she just, in fact, did.
If there were a Today’s Elementary School Version (TESV) translation of the Bible, I imagine the last verses of our passage would sound something like this:
“Why did Sarah laugh?”
…
“I didn’t laugh.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Did not.”
“Did too. I watched and heard you do it”
…
“Oh. Well.. no, I didn’t!”
Why would Sarah lie about something as seemingly innocuous as laughing? My guess is that she did not want to have to answer God’s "Why" question truthfully:
She laughed because she didn’t believe him.
And can you really blame her? Imagine that your husband has been promised by the God of the universe that his descendants will outnumber the stars, and then after years of infertility that eventually prompt you to find him a surrogate, someone tells you you’ll bear a child within the year. I have to imagine that the thought of that would absolutely be laughable.
But I wonder if it goes another layer deeper.
I wonder if Sarah's laughter was also a cover for a wounded heart.
After so many years of desperately hoping for the child she thought she was promised, she probably found it easier to laugh off the outrageous suggestion that her dream was going to come to fruition rather than dare to believe it could be true.
And yet, the fulfillment of this incredible promise in this unlikely way demonstrates the power–and faithfulness–of God. He takes the callous laughter of broken-heartedness & bitterness and turns it into the genuine laughter of delight & joy. He never–never–leaves a promise unfulfilled. We can trust his promises, no matter how unlikely they seem. I mean, who else could usher in new birth from a barren womb? Who else brings healing where there was brokenness? Who else can raise the dead to life? Only our God does this. And I think he does it with great rejoicing and delight.
I wonder if his rejoicing sounds like laughter.
PRAYER
God, give me the faith to dare to believe in your promises. Thank you for being faithful and true to your word. Amen.
Katie,
What a beautiful characterization you have painted of the doubts and fears Sarah may have been experiencing due to the long years of waiting for the Lord’s promises to be fulfilled. I can relate at times. And yet, God was faithful. God is faithful.
I will be thinking all day of how God is perhaps laughing as he rejoices over his faithfulness to his people. Promises fulfilled in his good timing.