I laugh like Betty Rubble. Or so I’ve been told. You know, the giggle of the dark-haired female Flintstones character. But whether it’s an ugly laugh that progresses into a snort, a deep laugh that I feel to my belly, or more proper laughter in a social setting, I want to laugh so hard in the new year that it leaves me gasping for air. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4). 2024 is my time to laugh.

Radio personality Garrison Keillor is credited with saying, “Some people think it’s difficult to be a Christian and to laugh, but I think it’s the other way around. God writes a lot of comedy—it’s just that He has so many bad actors.” He could be correct.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them – Psalm 126:2. 

Laughter and singing characterize the lives of women who’ve been born again. We get caught up in our daily responsibilities and forget these expressions of joy. Joy is a powerful witness.

Laughter is not something to condemn; it is a reward for those following Jesus. The significance of laughter is delight overflowing. God delights in us, and we are to rejoice in Him!

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. – Proverbs 17:22

How we approach our day’s circumstances can make all the difference in the day’s end. Laughter lifts our emotional health and could contribute to our physical health. 

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without the fear of the future. – Proverbs 31:25

Laughter has something in it in common with the ancient winds of faith and inspiration; it unfreezes pride and unwinds secrecy; it makes men forget themselves in the presence of something greater than themselves; something that they cannot resist. 

-G.K.Chesterton

Chesterton has something there when he says, “it unfreezes pride.” We need to learn to laugh with others and at ourselves. Laughter is a reward of humility and dependence upon God. It refreshes like rain upon a dry soul.

And to quote another author, I find humor in these words by C.S. Lewis: “Angels do not see anything funny about being angels. Neither do dogs laugh at being dogs. They don’t loiter around the lamppost and fire hydrant and bark about naughty bits. Woodpeckers don’t do knock-knock jokes. Monkeys don’t human around. No chicken laughs when another asks why the human crossed the road.”

Will you join me in looking for opportunities to laugh in the new year? Let’s be intentional to laugh well and laugh often.