PUSH BUTTONS
The Laughing Stock
Apostle Paul sums up the expression and procession of the kingdom of God in three concepts, namely righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. One thing we quickly appreciate is the progressive nature of that kingdom expression.
It starts with righteousness; I am now reconciled to Him and He is now near and alive to and in me. That reconciliation produces peace in my heart. I am at peace because of this new reality that I have come into. That peace produces joy. Righteousness and peace are salient and silent, but joy… Joy is bustling, colourful and expressive.
Joy shows in the face, in your attitude, in your countenance, and boy, does it show up in our reactions! Peek into the heart of a joyous (wo)man, you’ll hear a song, or a shout, a dance or a psalm. There’s always adulation of the Most High.
Joy is always in a convoy, it’s the third lap of the kingdom procession, once joy kicks in, kingdom shows up! One of the ways joy shows up is in laughter.
There are 2 kinds of laughter we see in scripture
1. Laugh of Scorn (LoS): This disposition is personified mostly by people who are external to your unique journey of faith trying to convince you that your faith efforts are futile and cast aspersions at your believe stance. They laugh in scorn because they are ignorant and they cannot discern spiritual things, because their heart has a natural ceiling. They cannot press into spiritual realities because it is locked and they do not have the keys. Their laughter is fueled by ignorance. The decibels of derision they express is indicative of the level of ignorance they have. Scorners are everywhere, on social media, in your office.
However, we see an anomaly in this sect, we see some believers joining this camp as well either out of fear or out of ignorance. Believers express the laugh of scorn when they doubt. Doubt comes when we overweight ourselves, our undesirable present and transient situations, and we underweight God’s power, His promises, His Word, and His Sovereignty. Doubt overwhelms us when we are overly conscious of our inefficiencies, insufficiencies and fail to rely on God.
2. Laugh of Faith (LoF): This is the camp of believers, where we laugh in response to God’s revelation in us, regardless of the size of the mountain. The laugh of faith is always expressed by hearts that have outsized confidence in God, not because of the absence of troubles or tribulations, but because of an insurmountable conviction of Yahweh!
Friends, laughter is always a directional activity and an act of agreement. You’re either laughing in agreement with God against contradictions (LoF) or you’re laughing in agreement with contradictions sadly against God (LoS). It’s important to note however, that God always wins, but sadly in a man’s life, God relies on his faith and his belief for His victory to be contextualized in his life. The laugh of faith is the button of activation and in most circumstances; the laugh of scorn is a button of termination except by a mercy intervention.
When we closely examine the scripture He who sits in heaven laughs (Psalm 2:4), we see that there is a composition of the faith stock and inventory the believing laughter responds from and I’d like to show you 4 of them
1. He — The Unrivalled Personality of God: A singularity that speaks to the sovereignty and superiority of God. God is not in a competitive landscape where there are other players and He is trying to get a competitive edge. He exists in a class all by Himself. He is the Sovereign of the all things and all realms that exist. He is God! No one else is God but our God!
2. He who sits — The Rested Disposition of God: He does not run helter-skelter. No state of the earth or of any situation can cause God to fidget or fret. He is forever seated. His sitting disposition is not as if to trivialize what His sons and daughters are going through or be unsympathetic towards them, but it’s to show His sovereignty and His ability that surpasses any and every circumstance. God sits from a place of assurance, knowledge and perspective. Sitting and calmness is just what Sovereigns do.
3. He who sits in heaven — The Authority of God: Theologians tell us that there are 3 heavens and God sits in the highest heaven. That heaven is far above the things under the earth, the things on the earth; it towers above principalities, and seasonal cycles. God’s seat is located in the highest position that does not just surpass but overrides every realm below it.
4. He who sits in heaven laughs — The Perspective of God: God sees beyond what man sees. His vision runs so deep and goes so far. Our view pales in comparison to His and His everlasting perspective, almost ridicules ours into insignificance. God laughs with the end and the ultimate reason in perspective. In the end, He wins, His promises over us trumps so you can imagine why Someone with such a viewpoint will only laugh.
Whether you laugh and whose side you take in laughing is a response to your level of awareness of these spiritual realities but our consolation is that this very faith inventory is available to you, my friend, reading this today. I know this because the bible tells us that every believer is seated with God in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6).
So when do you laugh? You laugh at the glimpse of revelation, that moment when a particular revelation of the nature of God finds its way into your heart from your spirit man through meditation. Secondly, you laugh in the face of contradiction. Those moments when laughing appears to be the most ridiculous thing to do is exactly the trigger for the laugh of faith.
The laugh of faith is a daring activity. It’s for the believer that knows and trusts his God, it’s for the believer that is expectant of exploits.
As you go through your week, get on the joy ride, pump up your faith stock and dare to laugh!!! In fact, I dare you to practice it right now! Hahaha… Glory to God in the highest!
Have a super blessed week
For His glory and His renown
Olayinka Adebayo
@layinkadebayo
Push Buttons is a weekly devotional of The Powerpoint Tribe.
