Laughter IS Good Medicine

A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a broken spirit dries up the bones.      Proverbs 17:22 (HCSB)

When was the last time that you laughed? I don’t mean chuckle or smile. I mean bend over, slap your knee, and can’t catch your breath – laughter. Been a while?

Not only does the Bible say that laughter (a joyful heart) is good for you but so does the American Medical Association. Science tells us that something called “endorphins” are thought to be released when we have a big belly laugh. Endorphins are natural pain and stress relievers.

Laughter around a dinner table has always been one of the best “snapshots” that I can recall from various seasons in my life. Family reunions where groups of cousins tried to out-tell “remember when” stories from childhood bring back laugh-filled memories of Milde (that’s Mil-dee) cream soda and cold watermelon. Holiday tables that are littered with empty plates and the adults have loosened their belts but are reluctant to leave the table because surely someone has one more story! Laughter is like a force field that keeps worry and sadness at bay.

Throughout the gospels I read about Jesus’ healing of blindness, paralysis, even seizures and yet most of His teaching had to do with healing the non-physical aspects of my life. At the very core of my reconciliation with God is the healing that occurs in my heart, in my spirit. My separation from God through sin leaves me defenseless against the destruction of satan and his world.

There are many on my prayer list right now who are fighting a battle against cancer. Whether they are a little girl in Arizona, a dear friend in Alabama, a mentor in Texas, or a faithful sister in Christ in Virginia, I am asking God to bless them with a miracle of total and complete healing. And in that healing is a “hidden” extra blessing of the restoration and healing of their hearts that have been battered in this war. I ask God to give them times of great laughter and joy that occurs despite their circumstance and releases those natural endorphins, like anointing oil flowing over their spirit. Grief and sadness are banished as they rest in the knowledge and power of the One who is greater than all that is known and unknown in their lives.

Instead of a song today, I want to take time to listen to a woman that truly ministers through her gift of laughter, Jeanne Robertson. This story she is going to tell has had almost 5 million – yes million – people come by and listen to the story on YouTube. (I know I’ve listened to it at least five times myself!) I hope you receive a very large “helping” of endorphins and experience healing in your heart.

Don’t Send a Man to the Grocery Store by Jeanne Robertson