"Laughter Heals

Laughter is good for our soul. Laughter stirs our emotions and takes our mind off of things in life that may have gotten us down. Since our mind can only think about one thing at a time, why not laugh?

Many of you are new to the Daily Devotional so I want to share with you a story that I share each year. It is my “Dunkin Donunts” story. When I was living in Phoenix, AZ I needed to get to work early one day. It was about 6:15, dark outside and I had not had any coffee yet. I was not in a good frame of mind till I had my coffee in hand. I went through the drive through which seemed to take forever. I don’t know why I get impatient in a drive thru. Are they changing shifts? Are they on break? Is this a new crew? Is anyone in charge? Ahh come on you have thought some of those same thingsJ Well I get up to the window and ask for 2 cake donuts and LARGE coffee. Instead of giving me a clear answer this woman is mumbling something to me. I said my order again and still she is mumbling. After waiting in line for a 2 entire minutes and this woman mumbling I am thinking “Do I have to stick my head inside her window for her to hear me? Okay I have a demon! Well I went to stick my head right up to her window and SMACK!!! I forgot to roll down my window. I hit my head so hard I am surprised I didn’t break the glass. I was so embarrassed and to make matters worse this woman is now laughing out of control.

After she gathered herself off the floor she gave me my donuts and coffee and I sheepishly drove off. God can get our attention anytime He so desires. When we think we are more important or our time is more important than someone else’s look out!

Life can turn into a three ring circus pretty quickly when we base our hope and joy on our circumstances. But we sure try. We try to base our hope and joy on family, our job or a hobby. But those things never last and are always changing. No wonder we get frazzled. We were created to have joy in our life but very few of us know where or how to look for it.

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Complete and perfect joy and peace will be elusive unless it is from the Lord. In the above verse we can have joy and peace when we trust in Jesus. We can have it so much that it overflows. So why don’t we have that joy?

First of all we usually trust in what we see that is in front of us. We let current circumstances rob of us what God has planned. We hold onto the immediate worry and forget about Gods’ promises. So how do we get this back? First of all we need to

1. Slow Down – Have you ever been on the interstate when you are stopped because of an accident? All of a sudden you start looking around and you see wonderful things you have never seen before because you have been going too fast. It is the same way with life. Jesus did not lead a frantic lifestyle and either should we.

2. Trust in the goodness of God – A lot of times we expect the worse even when things are going good. We need to live as if God is on our side and believe that His ways and His plans are perfect for you and I.

3. Learn to Laugh Again– We laughed a lot as children. What happened? Don’t laugh at the expense of others but God created us to laugh. STOP taking this life so seriously. No matter what you do God IS still in control.

4. Encourage others – When we think of others more than ourselves we quit worrying about ourselves. God knows what you need and that is all that matters. Make it your life’s mission to focus on the needs of those around you.

5. What if’s – Think about today and do the best that you can with the talents the Lord has given you. A lot of us have What if “itis” What if this doesn’t turn out, what if I lose my job, what if the test results are bad and on and on. We can easily lose our joy when we do not focus on today.