Whether to Laugh or to Cry

Sometimes you have a choice of laughing or crying. A few years ago, we drove quite a distance to preach on Easter Sunday morning for a pastorless church. Following the service I was thanked and handed an envelope. On the way home, I jokingly, asked my wife to open the envelope and see if we had received enough honorarium to cover lunch. When she told me the amount, I did some quick math in my head and discovered that not only did we not have enough to cover the cost of round-trip gasoline; we had no lunch money. We could have whined, and cried, and felt sorry for ourselves, but we chose to laugh, get a hamburger, and drive on home. The writer of Ecclesiastes said there is, “a time to laugh” (Eccl. 3:4) and the Psalmist repeatedly referred to God laughing (Psalm 2:4; 37:13; 59:8). William Arthur Ward, author of “Fountains of Faith”, and one of America’s most quoted writers of inspirational maxims, wrote, “A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life.” That’s why I told many classrooms of Seminary students, whatever else you have, you will need an ability to laugh, in order to succeed in ministry. How about you? Laugh at something today, or maybe even at yourself.

Join with me this week in praying for the following global concerns:
• Pray for the families of the thousands killed in the Napal earthquake of last Saturday and for those who are ministering in the area.
• Join with missionaries in a Day of Prayer on May 1 for Russia, the largest country on earth, and its capital city, Moscow, the largest city in Europe (over 15 million inhabitants).
• Pray for Trey and Elise as they visit the Southwest Poland and Croatia missionary teams as well as a few other ministry partners in the area.
• Pray for Lori as she continues to serve in Mali, West Africa.