ON THE VANGUARD

LAUGHING AT THE LORD
“[Jesus] went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him.”
Mark 5:39-40

Lately I have been having a few things weighing on me. There are decisions that I feel I need to make concerning my present and future circumstances that have been taking their toll on me. But through all the prayer I feel like I have heard the answers and been advised what to do. Perhaps in time I’ll share more of these specifics with you as they are a testimony to God. Still, one of the things I have realized is that the words spoken by God don’t always seem to make sense. The reason is because I do not see the answers in the fullness of what God is doing. For example, when God spoke years ago about me one day being a pastor, I almost found myself questioning if He was talking to the guy next to me and I happened to receive it in error. As the years went on, however, and I felt this burden in my heart, I knew those words were for me. The same is true again with what I hear God saying. He has given me a direction and although I could stand here and laugh at God about what was said, I am careful to do so. So far all He has said has been proven.
Let me give you two examples from the Bible of people who laughed at the Lord God’s words. First I am reminded of the account of Jairus, in Mark 5. Before his daughter was dead, he came to Jesus. He wanted a miracle of healing for his daughter. Pleading with Jesus, Jesus agreed to go to his house only to be detained by healing virtue leaving Him. As He questioned the crowd for who had touched Him, He found that His healing virtue had been received by a woman who had a bleeding issue. Her faith had made her whole, but the stop had given time for Jairus’ daughter to pass. Jairus’ friends told him not to bother Jesus now; it was too late. But Jesus told Jairus to have faith. When they arrived at his home, the mourners were already there, wailing away. Jesus spoke that the girl was not dead, but rather sleeping. To this, they laughed at Jesus. Can you imagine that – laughing at Jesus? Yet with only a select few left in the room watching, Jesus spoke to the girl and life returned.
Here is another account, one that we probably all know well. We go all the way back to Genesis 18. The old couple of Abraham and Sarah are childless. Abraham is the father of Ishmael, true, but Ishmael was never intended to be the child of promise. However, when the three visitors come to Abraham’s camp on their way to Sodom, one of the men confirms that about this same time next year a child would be born. Abraham received the message, yet Sarah, who was listening from inside the tent, laughed. She probably had more reason to laugh at the LORD than the weepers in Jairus’ home, simply due to her age. Still, the fact that she laughed at what God was putting in place allowed her to be called out. The son, Isaac, did indeed come just as promised. Additionally, all the other details that came along with the LORD’s promises that day came about as well concerning Sodom.
The point I want to make is simple. What benefit is there is laughing at the LORD? By laughing we are putting ourselves in a place where we doubt what God can do. And in both accounts the key was faith. Yes it seems hard in the physical for us, but when was God ever limited by human capacity? Last I checked, God was able to do exceedingly above all I could ever ask or imagine (Eph 3:29). So then when God speaks concerning something too grand for me to do on my own, I must remember that it is never too grand for God. Laughing at Him only proves how little my faith is. Trusting in Him to accomplish what He says He will do proves how big He is. I urge you in the next time you hear God speak something so big to you to not laugh but rather believe. He doesn’t want our doubt, He wants our faith.