The Real Deal
Naming a child is no mean feat.
Back in the day, you had a few grandparents to pick from or maybe a distant uncle.
Today the options are endless.
Books, celebrities, google and even AI.
With the plethora of choices, how do you pick one that satisfies both sides of the family?
There also has to be the matter of naming your child so they don’t get bullied for an unconventional name.
Isaac could have been named anything else.
Think about it.
Abraham and Sarah’s child could have been called “Long Wait”, “Miracle Baby”, “Anointed One”, “God was right” or any myriad of the above.
But God chose laughter.
A name that was given within minutes of Abraham bursting out in laughter at the thought of having a child by Sarah.
Laughter in this case was a reflex response by a man who had waited as long as he had on a promise that had never materialised.
At this point, Abraham was okay with Ishmael.
At least he had a son from his loins.
Ishmael may not have been the original plan, but he had become good enough.
Names have always meant a lot to God which is why he renamed Abram and Sarai before renewing His promise of a child to them.
Sarah’s response to the news was similar to her husband except in one aspect.
Abraham had laughed when God was listening.
Sarah didn’t know God was listening.
Unlike Abraham who at least had a child, Sarah had nothing.
Ishmael was the child of her servant, but there was no love lost between both women.
Sarah’s laugh was sourced in a well of pain.
She laughed because she was done crying.
She laughed because sometimes the only way to keep going is to cover your trauma with cryptic humor.
Sarah laughed in private but God heard it, and more important, He heard the pain behind it.
Rather than hold her up as an example of a doubting believer who didn’t deserve His intervention, God doubled down on His promise of giving her a child of her own.
God brings redemption as comfort to those of us who believe, even when we’re on the wrong end of doubt.
Laughter is usually meant to signify joy, happiness and good times.
In the case of Abraham and Sarah, it was being used to mask a pair of broken hearts.
Isaac was God’s redemption of Laughter.
After decades of cycling between hope and disappointment, Sarah had given up on a long-ago promise.
This was the exact point when God came through.
Maybe like Sarah your smile covers up what you’d rather no one else see.
Maybe laughter is your way of coping with acute or chronic disappointment.
God sees that and He knows how to give you the real deal.
He did it for Abraham and his wife when they had give up.
He knows it when you cover up your pain with a chuckle and He plans to change that.
Isaac is on the way.