Are you laughing with me or at me? There is a big difference, right? Little “Laughter,” Isaac brought laughter to his mom. She had laughed out loud at the thought of having a child. Then God laughed last when he fulfilled his promise. I wonder who found the most joy in Isaac. Was it Sarah, Abraham, or the Lord?
The arrival of a baby was good news for almost everyone. Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar was now a young teenager. Hagar had acted as surrogate upon the request of Sarah. Ishmael’s place in the family was already tenuous, but now he was dispensable.
Kids sometimes serve as barometers of the tension in the family. At the weaning festival for Isaac, Ishmael mocked his little brother. Sarah did not like his tone. Laughing with Isaac was fine, but laughing at him was not. Sarah demanded that Abraham send them away. As long as he was there, Ishmael threatened the inheritance of his baby brother Isaac. This was no laughing matter.
Do we ever see God’s love as a “zero sum.” If he loves you more, he must love me less because his love is assumed to be finite. In this world, your wins are my losses and vice versa. That world is not God’s world because God’s love is infinite. He can love and bless each of us and all of us more and more without ever running short of grace or blessings. How does this affect the way we relate to others. We have no competitors for God’s love and blessings. Knowing this enables us to laugh. And those who laugh, last!
