Yield: God and Giggles | Convene For The Cities

~ written by Connie Dunmyer

I need a good laugh about now. How 'bout you?! Life has been so heavy for so long that some days it’s hard to breathe. So today I decided to laugh. Whenever I need to smile or laugh, I often think about this story:

“We were blessed enough to visit Hawaii, and were joined by some friends and family. Hawaii is most definitely romantic for just two people – but Hawaii also lends itself to uproarious laughter when combined with a group of very fun and funny people. After snorkeling, my friend shared that he had witnessed the symbiotic relationship between a sea turtle and a trumpet fish. The trumpet fish traveled along the top of the sea turtle, eating away bits of algae off the turtle’s shell. And by its mere presence, the sea turtle helps protect the trumpet fish from would-be-predators. He watched it for a very long time. The first time I heard the story, the trumpet fish was maybe 2 feet long. But as the evening’s fun progressed, and the story being told multiple times, that trumpet fish grew and grew and grew and grew til it was well over 8 feet long. It became so hysterical we would all take turns asking “...and how long was it?” To which he would stretch his arms out as far as possible and retell the story. The legend continues to this day... And we laugh as hard now as we did then.”

God has revealed a not-so-secret secret to me. Faith and Trust have a symbiotic relationship with Laughter. God calls us to faith. It is a fruit of the Spirit. But faith was never meant to turn us into sourpusses. In fact, I believe the opposite is true. If we can be going through a struggle, and still find a way to smile or laugh, I believe that can be a sign of trust, of faith, of assurance that God is still in control and He still wants us to enjoy life... to have it abundantly! (John 10:10).

Genesis 21:6

⁶And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”

Proverbs 17:22

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Job 8:21

²¹He [God] will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.

Ecclesiastes 3:4

¹ For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ….
⁴a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Luke 6:21

²¹“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”

These are some of the Bible verses that extol the virtues and promise of laughter. But have you ever thought about some of the funny things that occur IN the Bible?

Here are some stories that frankly have some pretty funny, or at least odd, bits in them. I encourage you to read them and try to picture some of these funny bits in your mind. It helps me to remember these people were just regular human beings. They were just like me. And so maybe I'm not as messed up as I sometimes think I am.

“Bread? Bread? What Bread?”

Mark 8. Remember the time the disciples “forgot the bread”? Jesus had just miraculously fed the 4,000 with 7 baskets of left-over bread. But when they were in the boat on the water, they realized that they forgot to bring any of the miracle-made-bread with them. Can you imagine the blame-game going on? “John, you were the bread man for today.” Or “Peter, if you forget the bread one more time your name's gonna fit because we’ll drop you like a rock.” At this point Jesus breaks up any arguing by saying “Don’t you get it yet? I fed the 5000, had 12 baskets left – I fed the 4000, had 7 left.” It's a faith-lesson to be sure. And I am pretty sure Jesus says words like that to me at least a dozen times a day. "Don't you get it yet, Connie!" But it's also fraught with humor as I can just picture them with that “deer in the headlights” look in their eyes. I kind of wish one of them would’ve taken their hand to their forehead and said “Oh! I could’ve had a V8!”

“I Hear You Knocking But You Can’t Come In”

Acts 12. Then there's the time the church was praying for Peter to be released from prison. Peter is chained between two guards. An angel shows up and Peter’s chains fall off. Iron doors open themselves as the angel leads Peter out of the prison and to the house of Mark, where everyone is praying. Rhoda hears Peter’s voice as he’s knocking at the gate. And rather than letting him in, she runs back into the house to tell the others. The others think she’s gone bonkers. (Nevermind the fact that this was exactly what they were praying for.) So while they are arguing with Rhoda about her being crazy, poor Peter, the escaped prisoner, is outside knocking “Hey guys, let me in! They’ll be coming any moment! Hey guys! C’mon now. This isn’t funny anymore!” Again. A really great faith-lesson, with a bit of "symbiotic-trumpet-fish-humor" going on. I have laughed at myself for just this kind of thing. I prayed for a thing. I thought God wasn't answering. And just when I thought it was over, out of no where, an answer I hadn't even thought of occurred. I really did laugh. I had given up - but God never did!

“Maybe your god is in the Bathroom”

song of solomon bride 1 Kings 18. One of my personal favorites is when Elijah sets up a duel of sorts with the prophets of Baal. (Or maybe it was more like playing Star Trek's Fizzbin.) Whoever’s God/god sent fire to burn the offering on the altar – that would be the real God. Baal’s prophets do all kinds of gyrations and screaming. They beat themselves to the point of limping around the altar. From morning til noon they tried. Rather than put them out of their misery so they could all get lunch, Elijah starts mocking them “Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. Scream louder!” And so the Baal prophets start cutting themselves “until the blood gushed out upon them”. What a bloody mess! Of course when Elijah takes his turn with a quick prayer, God sends fire that is AWEsome! I'm pretty sure Elijah had a snicker or two going on.

There are other stories, too, that yes, are serious stories. But honestly, they are also funny.

A talking donkey. Numbers 22:22-30 (I wonder if he was an ancestor to Mr. Ed).
How Ehud “lost” his sword. Judges 3:15-25 (A little gross. But imagine trying to explain the loss to your insurance company.)
The time Paul preached so long, a guy fell asleep and out of the window. Acts 20:7-11 (I can relate, however.)
When God said “who told you that you were naked”. Genesis 3:10-11 (What a funny thing to say. And yet, I bet God says things like that to me more times than I care to admit.)
Some rowdy boys make fun of Elisha’s bald head, and they get mauled by bears. 2 Kings 2:23-24 ("You want hair? I show you hair!")
And have you ever been able to read Song of Solomon’s description of a beautiful bride and not giggle … at least a little bit? Song of Solomon 4:1-5

Life gets hard. Adversity hurts. But God has given us the gift of laughter. It's our symbiotic-trumpet-fish. It kind of swims along with us, sometimes unnoticed. But if we utilize it, it will help us get through the tough parts. So I leave you with a few parting reasons to laugh ... weave it through your day.

"A little boy was overheard praying: 'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am.'"

"Little Johnny asked his gramma how old she was. Gramma answered, 'Thirty-nine and holding.' Johnny thought for a moment and then said, 'And how hold would you be if you let go?'"

"You know your a mom when ...

You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.
You have time to shave only one leg at a time.
You hide in the bathroom to be alone.
Your child throws up, and you catch it.
You hope ketchup is a vegetable because it's the only one your child eats.
You fast-forward through the scene when the hunter shoots Bambi's mother.
You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth."

"A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, 'The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.' His son then asked, 'What happened to the flea?'"

Below is a David Meece clip about his mother, her muffler and how it all relates to Mozart and the Beatles. (And there's some good faith-lessons mixed in.) Smile. Laugh. Enjoy. Your "trumpet fish" is always nearby.

Hear the song David Meece refers to at the end of the above clip. "All The Time" (it's worth the extra 4 minutes)

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