Laughter from God...

Anger:  Strong feelings of displeasure or hostility

Submission: Voluntary yielding to another

Humbled:  Not proud or arrogant; having a spirit of submission

(definitions from the Life Application Bible Dictionary/Concordance p2308, 2367, 2337)

These are three words that as humans we do not like in our lives.  Some feel that anger is wrong.  We should always be love and peace.  Submission must mean that we allow ourselves to be a doormat by someone.  And humble – Oh, we must be weak, a pushover.  But all three of these words show great strength in a Christian’s life.  All three of these make us more like Christ because these are things He showed in His life also.

Let me tell you how these three things led to joy, laughter and peace in my day today.   There are things going on in my church that I get upset and angry about.  The feelings I have over those things make me look for reasons not to go to church, they make me angrier when I get there and they make me physically ill.  I don’t know what I can do except pray.  So today while I prepared for church I prayed and I asked God to use me today, to be with me, to help me get through and to focus on Him.  Before I got out of the car at church, I prayed again and asked God to let those things that anger me to pass away, to help me focus on Him and to use me for His purpose.  Well, today God took that anger.  Not only did He take it but He replaced it.  He replaced it with laughter and peace.  When things began that I would have been fuming over in the past, God changed my focus away from that thing and placed it on Him.

Our mouths are filled with laughter,
Our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nation,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
And we were filled with joy. (Psalm 126:2-3)

 A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

 I would not have experienced this though if I had not humbled myself and voluntarily yielded (submitted) to God.  My focus would have been on earthly things not on God, and I would have missed out on a great gift from God.  And there is nothing more cleansing or refreshing then a good laugh from God.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:10)