Laugh with Me

Laugh with Me
Words of Faith 4-13-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL    
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Genesis 21
    Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. [2] Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. [3] Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. [4] When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. [5] Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
    [6] Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." [7] And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

       Sometimes life does not turn out the way we expect. I was talking recently to a lovely Christian couple. They are at a time when the nest should be empty, but they are suddenly raising their young grandchildren. I watched as they wrestled with the beautiful bundles of energy. I observed, "Life doesn't always turn out the way we expect."  They replied with a mixture of weariness and joy, "But it is a blessing."  
        Sarah just laughed. When the Lord God finally came through with the promised child she had longed for, she just laughed. What is more, she invited all who would hear of this to join in her laughter. There are times when that is all we can do. Laugh with me!
       Joys sometimes come in such complex and unusual ways that we must laugh! Sarah was in her 90s, and Abraham was 100. Never mind the miraculous biology here. How would they ever pull this off? She would be over 100 when this child entered his energetic teen years! She just had to laugh. So they named this child "Isaac," which means "I laughed."
        God has a way of bringing us to such places of laughter. When I think back, I never dreamed I would be living where I am today, serving a large church that did not exist a few years ago. I would have laughed if you had told me. Now, I can only imagine what "funny" things the Lord still has in mind for the future!
        Are you seeking the Lord and His vision for your life? Get ready to laugh. The challenges will be enormous. The possibilities will be, well, impossible. But remember, the word of the Lord to Sarah had been, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"  
       God calls ordinary people to extraordinary things that will glorify Him. What will it be? Missions? Foreign exchange? Children or youth? A special outreach? An "unreachable" neighbor? Whatever it is, it will make you laugh because it is something you cannot do without God. It will cause you to depend upon Him as never before. It will be "impossible," but God will accomplish it in you.

         Father, show me what it is You have for my life. Reveal the path and direction that You desire. Then give me the faith to hear, believe and walk into that vision. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.