Thursday 13, August 2026

Many of us don’t stop to think that if we’re wired like God is, then God truly has a sense of humour. Have you seen evidence of God’s humour in the Bible before? Our failure to see ‘God laughed’ as a biblical reference is not sufficient proof that God is always serious. As we consider Today’s Holy Nougat, let’s look for snippets of God’s humour in the text.

Acts 5:22-23 CEVDCI

[22] The temple police who were sent to the jail did not find the apostles. They returned and said,

[23] “We found the jail locked tight and the guards standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors and went in, we didn’t find anyone there.”

The Joke is on Whom?

Often, evidence of God’s humour in the Bible is subtle. In the story of Isaac’s birth, for example, we can easily miss God’s humour, which aligned with God’s timing and the joy the child brought to his mother. In Genesis 12, God’s promise to Abram involved children. At the time of the promise, Abram had no children, only a nephew. His faith and hope were pinned on Lot, his nephew. But God had other plans. Plans that required separation and great faith in the impossible.

Sarah was barren, her womb closed, and as time passed, she gave up on the pleasure of having her own child. She thought she was only destined to nurture another’s. Isaac’s birth occurred long after, at a time when Sarah had lost all hope of intimate pleasure with Abraham (see Genesis 18:12).

Not only did she have such pleasure, but the child, born a year later, was named ‘laughter’, as God instructed in Genesis 17:19. The name Isaac (laughter) came from God. So, it’s not only about Sara’s disbelief and eventual joy … God also laughed along with Abraham and Sara.

Point to Ponder

When we use the patriarchal formula (i.e., the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob) to describe YHWH, do we realise that we refer to the God of the multitude, of laughter, and who supplants (i.e., who circumvents)? Does it tell us more about God’s laughter

Deeper Dive

There may seem to be no connection between these two incidents in Genesis and Acts. But God’s hat tricks (the ability to create in the face of impossible odds), though different in each circumstance, reveal to us that side of God often forgotten. God laughs; some would say God plays pranks on us when we think we’re in control.

When the believers yielded control to God, the storyline shifted. We realise that when the believers were taken from jail, the guards didn’t know that their prisoners had gone. They were protecting a sealed and empty prison cell!

My folks in Jamaica would say, ‘every unfair game plays twice’. The chief priest and his cronies sought to humiliate the believers. But the joke was on them. God thoroughly thwarted their plans. I believe God laughed every step of the way. Can’t you hear God releasing a full-bellied laugh when the report was given to the chief priest’s team?

Can we hear God laughing at others’ plans to harm us, when God has already made plans to bless us? Like Sarai, we might laugh at the impossibility of our situation, failing to realise that God has already spoken Isaac into being.

Self-Check

What is the impossible situation that challenges our capacity to believe in God’s provision today? Let’s call on our God: of multitudes, laughter, and circumnavigation, to intervene. Then, let’s watch to see on whom the joke lies.

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May all we seek be found in Christ