Laugh to Keep from Crying

Tyler Perry allegedly has a play called 'Laugh to Keep from Crying" that is scheduled to be released early 2010. Though I do not know what the play will be about, the title, nevertheless, gives me insight into a biblical text. In Genesis 18 we learn about Sarah, Abraham's wife. There we see that angels come to Abraham and they ask him about his wife Sarah. They also inform Abraham that in one year his wife will have a child. After overhearing this conversation, Sarah laughed to herself and then she noted how old she and Abraham were--she was close to eighty and Abe was close to 100. I believe Sarah laughed that day because of two reasons. First, she laughed because she knew it was biologically impossible for a woman her age to have a child. Second, she laughed because the notion of her having a child had been a painful topic for her for many years. In that day, women who could not bear children were viewed as less than. Furthermore, because every man wanted a son--heir to his possessions--they also dealt with the pressure of knowing their husband was disappoint about their inability to have children. So, when Sarah laughed, she actually laughed to keep from crying. Her laugh didn't reflect happiness, it was deceptive symbol of her saddness. The reality is many of us do the same sometimes, we laugh to keep from crying. We have cried over somethings so long until our tear ducts are dry; it's not even possible to cry anymore, so we laugh. Well, the good news in the text is that God shows us that he will always have the last laugh. Despite her history, God made good on his word and Sarah gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. My point in this blog is to encourage everyone to never reach a point in which you stop believing the impossible cannot be done. Just as it happened in Sarah's life, I believe it can happen in yours.

Peace!