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When was the last time you had a really good laugh? I mean a seriously good, milk–coming–out–of–your–nose, about–to–wet–your–pants laugh? I have a friend who, almost every time you make him laugh, spits out whatever is in his mouth. There's still strawberry milk in the crevasses of another friend's dashboard from a "spit laugh" three years ago!

I love to laugh. I'll bet you love to laugh too. So that leads me to wonder … why don't we laugh more often with God? When was the last time you laughed so hard in church that it actually hurt? My hunch is that it's been awhile.

The absence of laughter in our faith is a very serious thing because laughter is God's idea, his gift to us. In light of the sin, pain and chaos of this world, it's one of the few secret weapons we who know God have. I believe there are two big reasons why Christians don't laugh along with God more:

1) Christians sometimes don't understand who God is.

2) Christians sometimes don't understand who they are.

My grandfather, known to me simply as Big Jack, was a good but fiercely intimidating man. He was 6 feet 6 inches tall with tough, serious features and thick white hair. If you asked his friends—and even some family members—they'd tell you he was downright scary.

I think a lot of people imagine God like Big Jack—a grumpy old grandpa who wants nothing more than for us to sit silent and still, minding our own business and keeping our hands to ourselves. But that was only one side of Big Jack. I knew him better than that. I knew he loved me.

I remember one day riding in Big Jack's brand new Cadillac. It was a beautiful car, and even better, it was the first I had seen with automatic windows. I was fascinated with them. So being a 4-year-old, I began playing with those windows. Up … down… up … down. After about 10 minutes of this, Big Jack whipped around from the driver's seat and growled, "Hey you little fart, why don't you stop playing with the windows."

Without hesitation, I responded: "Hey you big fart, why don't you come back here and make me!"

Now, most people who would've said that to Big Jack would have been thrown out that automatic window. Knowing this, my mom gasped and held her breath, waiting for Big Jack's response. But instead of putting me in my place, Big Jack began to laugh uncontrollably. He laughed so hard he could barely drive. Sure, Big Jack seemed scary. And he could be rough when he needed to be. But he also liked to laugh. This is a lot like God, who loves when we laugh, likes to laugh with us, and delights in us as we fumble our way through life.

Have you ever thought about how funny some of the events and stories from the Bible really are?

Like the time God told 99-year-old Abraham and his 90-year-old wife Sarah they would have their first child. At first, Abraham laughed at God, but after the birth of Isaac, he learned to laugh with God. In fact, it was God's idea to name the kid Isaac (which means laughter).

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