5:16 Podcast
A media production of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A church dedicated as a Community of Christ to reach the Community for Christ. This podcast aims to provide biblically based sermons, commentary, topical studies, interviews, and conversations on a 5:16 foundation with a 3:16 mission.
5:16 Podcast
Laughter According to God | Genesis 18:1-15
This week we will explore Genesis 18:1-15, Laughter According to God.
Have you ever noticed that there are different kinds of laughs?
There is the laugh of joy. The laugh of entertainment. The laugh of mockery. And the laugh of disbelief, usually a quiet laugh, under the breath, accompanied by a slight shaking of the head.
In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham and Sarah. He shows up in human form. He comes to talk with them and even to receive their hospitality and to share a meal.
It is a fascinating scene. Almost hard to imagine.
Can you imagine the sovereign God of the universe stopping by your house for a meal of steak, biscuits, butter, and milk?
God visits Abraham in order to give Sarah the confirmation that she would indeed bear a son.
Sarah laughs.
Not a loud, gut-shaking laugh.
No, just one of those inward, shaking of the head, kind of laughs. The kind of laugh you might have if someone told you that the LSU men's basketball team was going to win the SEC tournament and then go on to win the national championship. "Yeah, right." (snicker, snicker)
Sarah laughs because her heart and mind have faced too much disappointment, too much doubt, too much heartbreak to grasp at the fading hope of a child.
In some sense she can't even allow her heart to believe the Word of God because she can't take the thought of another painful disappointment.
I think many of us are just like Sarah. We hear the Word of God. We hear the promises of God. We hear the hope of the future. But our circumstances and pain are just too great to know how to respond. We want to believe but there is something in us that just wants to shake our head in quiet disbelief.
But God's Word is the only thing that is certain in this world.
And even in our quiet struggles to believe, God still remains faithful to His promise.
And one day all of our quiet laughs of struggle and doubt will be replaced with the joyous laugh of praise and wonder.
Hallelujah!
May God open our hearts to receive His Word...and to believe His promise!