A Good Medicine

me LAUGHING (2007)

A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (AKJV)

 

Many of you have prayed for me this week, offered kind words of encouragement, and sent get-well wishes.  You have blessed me more than you know.  My sincere thanks to each of you. 

So, today I want to share a devotion with you from God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea about a good medicine.  I hope it speaks to your need and touches your heart.

 

            The therapeutic value of joy and laughter can not be denied. Who doesn’t enjoy a good belly laugh?  I believe I’ve even heard a story about a sick man who laughed himself well.  Charles Dickens wrote in his cherished classic A Christmas Carol that “it is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour.”  This astute observation brings a smile to my lips.  Noble, indeed, he says.  God is good.

            Job spoke with faith when he said “He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting” Job 8:21 (ASV).  He expected to see the goodness and joy of the Lord, even though he was in the midst of suffering and sorrow.  God wants us to enjoy the life He’s given us.  The Scripture says that Jesus came “that they might have life, and have it more abundantly.”  An abundant life implies ample joy and laughter.  He wants His joy to be a constant and abiding benefit of our relationship with Him.  Joy comes from a heart content in Christ Jesus. 

“The Lord has done great things for us; whereof we are glad” Psalm 126:3. And we need to share that joy with those with whom our lives touch.  Share the joy through kind words of encouragement and hope.  Share the joy with a million laughs.  A happy heart is “irresistibly contagious”.  It does good to dispense it freely.

 

Scripture Readings:  Job 8:21; Psalm 126:2; Proverbs 12:25; Proverbs 17:22; Luke 6:21, John 10:10. 

Journal Considerations:  What do you think of Charles Dickens observation that there is “nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter”? 

Do you think God wants His joy to be a constant and abiding benefit of our relationship with Him?   

Prayer:  Dear Lord God, You have done great things for us.  Thank you for putting joy in our hearts and filling my mouths with laughter.  Help us find joy in our everyday lives, and help us share that joy with others.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen. 

Today’s Sweet Tea Moment: Laughter does good like a medicine, plus there’s no need to pay a deductible. 

Prayer Focus:  Those suffering from depression.

 

My grandson Nathan. 

Thank you for visiting Write Moments with God.  May God bless you with His joy and peace.