Laughing with God, my best friend.

Yes. I am listening to Regina Spektor right now.
Yes. I am listening to 'Laughing with God.'

God can speak through secular artists and really encourage me. Its not so much the lyrics of this particular song that has ministered to my spirit.
But the two phrases that really get me are "God can be funny", and "We're all laughing with God."
Does God really laugh? Does God have a sense of humor?
For much of my life i have usually viewed God as loving, compassionate, just, mighty, holy, the list really will go on forever. But for me, as someone who has an ever-present sense of humor, i have been seeing more and more lately that the LORD has a sense of humor. Maybe it's just because i look for the humor in any situation. Maybe my best friend, who created Heaven and earth, knows me so well and knows exactly what i need. He will speak to His children in a way that says exactly what they need to hear.

Let me tell you a story from this week. This happening to me seriously has made my whole week.

Before i continue with this story i have to say that, during these last two months in the Discipleship Training Program i have learned so much more than what i am going to share today. This is just something that really blessed me and is a result of my increased relationship with my Father in Heaven.

Monday evening. Conversing with my room mate Isaac over dinner we were discussing what we had learned in that day's classes. I really had seen a picture of the perseverance that the Christian walk requires.
I saw this picture of a man running full-bore, through a desert, running like He was being chased by something. He didn't stop to rest, he didn't slow down to get a drink of water, he didn't stop to check his facebook. He ran with a purpose, to get to the destination ahead of him. He is focused on the prize in front of him. He runs with a fervor, he runs straight and true, not turning aside to the right hand nor to the left. He falls down. But he doesn't stay down. He gets right back up and keeps running.
Not every single analogy here transfers directly over to the Christian walk. What i saw in that picture was how, during our life, things come up, trials, persecution, distractions, fatigue, etc., come up and can hinder our relationship with God. How we have to keep moving, we have to just keep running, following the Lord's leading, and persevering through those things, through the 'affairs of this life'.

This has been hilarious so far, i'm sure. But just wait, that was just to illustrate the story a little bit.

After talking about that picture of perseverance for a while, i said to Isaac,

"Just cuz i was talking about this, God is probably gonna talk me through some trial or something that i will have to persevere through. It always seems to work that way."

Little did i know....


We had a good time of fellowship that evening an concluded with a time of prayer together, Isaac, Dan, and myself.
I hit the sack at 9:30, tired from a late night the night before and the busy day, i set my alarm for 5:40 am. I was excited for a good night's sleep and a sweet quiet time with the Lord in the morning.
I laid down, shut my eyes, and tossed and turned, and tossed and turned, and rolled over, adjusted my pillows and blankets, re-adjusted my pillows, listened to the cows mooing outside, and repeated that cycle until 12:30 am. I was wide-awake and dead-tired. I was puzzled at my lack of ability to get to sleep. I know that often times there is sin that needs to be confessed or something that i am holding back from God and is causing separation between us. I searched my heart over and over again and could find nothing. I was thoroughly puzzled and a little bit frustrated that i couldn't sleep.
I put on some music and listened to that for an hour and a half. After the CD had ended for the second time i was still awake. At this point i had tried everything i could think of to sleep.
Finally i went and laid on the couch and tried to read my Bible.
It was 2 am and i couldn't focus on it. I finally fell asleep shortly after that, dreading the morning that was coming so quickly.
Tuesday morning i awoke at 6:30 and got ready for class. I was dog-tired and not looking forward to the day ahead. We had class in the morning, street ministry in the afternoon and prayer meeting in the evening. It was gonna be a long day and i knew it was gonna be a challenge to make it through.
I knew God had a plan and a reason for my sleepless night but i had no clue what that was yet.

THEN. (here comes the funny part. no really, it's coming up really soon.)

Halfway through the first class session it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks.

The words i had said to Isaac the previous evening, about how God would probably bring some sort of challenge my way because of what i had been talking about.
No sleep that night had been God's joke on me. He knew i was gonna have a long day on Tuesday so he brought me a pile of tiredness that i had to persevere through. It was not a cruel or mean joke, but a humorous little thing that best friends do to each other.
God's sense of humor is beautiful. It really is.
Suddenly i didn't mind the four-ish hours of sleep i got.
This brilliant little joke that God made with me made my relationship with Him seem so much more.....amazing. More real, more interactive. more... the word that i am looking for does not exist. Like the relationship that i have with my good friends.

When all this hit me it made me so happy.
God loves me. He loves me enough to make jokes with me.




Holy Humor, i love God!

Dodger