I have been a comedian for as long as I can remember. I have often used comedy to make light of bad situations, to cheer up people who are feeling low or to just bring attention to myself. In my professional career and my personal life, I believe most people would describe me as a person who is constantly joking around. I like to use the term, "You gotta laugh to keep from crying." I use that term because when I can dig deep and find a joke to uplift myself or someone else during a time of crisis, I believe it feels so much better to laugh than to wallow in despair.
There are times when I dig deep and I can't find a joke. There are times I dig so deep that I get lost in the darkness and stay there. During those times I wish I could laugh but I cry instead, overwhelmed with all the negative emotions that I allowed to flood my mind and steal my joy...
Many successful, professional comedians reminisce on their painful past and make jokes about those moments when laughter was far from their lips. One such example is Kevin Hart. Kevin Hart was raised by a single mother and his father was a drug addict. Kevin Hart was very self conscious of his small stature. Kevin Hart divorced his wife and mother of his two children. Kevin Hart was not successful as a comedian when he first began his career as a performer. It wasn't until he began telling jokes of his shortcomings, his insecurities, his painful past, that he found success in comedy. One of his most memorable performances was a show titled, "Laugh at my pain" in which he discusses his past in detail and even revisited the city where he grew up. I'm sure he wasn't laughing much when he went through the storms of his early years but he managed to learn to have joy in spite of the pain from his past.
Recently, I reviewed Isaiah 26:3 with my son and asked him to tell me what he thinks the verse means. The NIV verse reads, "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You." My son told me the verse means God will give you peace if our mind is always thinking godly thoughts. You see, The Word is so simple, even children understand its basic concepts. This verse is very true because if my mind was constantly on God, I would have no room in my brain to worry or fear or doubt. The devil is always prowling around, looking for an opportunity to pounce on his prey. As children of God, we cannot give the devil power to control us by stealing our godly thoughts and replacing them with evil, perversions or anything that is against God. It is only when we surrender ourselves to those ungodly thoughts that evil prevails and our peace of mind diminishes. It can happen in the blink of an eye therefore it is imperative that we stay vigilant and do not give the devil a foothold to enter our mind.
So how can I keep my mind on God constantly? I asked myself that question and I am sure you are asking as well. Sometimes the pain of life hurts too much to laugh but I will choose to laugh anyway. Pain is temporary, just like the pain of childbirth. During labor with each of my children, I can recall it being the worst physical pain I had ever experienced. I can also recall the overwhelming joy I felt immediately upon seeing the fruit of my labor, my baby, delivered into my arms. With each contraction, I knew I was closer to meeting the child I longed for during the entire nine month long pregnancy. And with the pain of each of our life experiences, we can be encouraged by the fact that at the end of our "labor", we will have joy!
God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. That is the gift of His Holy Spirit. It dwells within us and whispers words of encouragement to bring laughter to our lips when we are in the midst of a nightmare. His Spirit envelops us in love when we are lonely and instills a sense of peace to our troubled minds. We learn patience through the storms of life. We learn to be good and kind to others after experiencing evil and unkindness from others. We learn self control when we overcome temptations. Most of all, we learn to remain faithful because God shows us faithfulness every day of our lives. He never gives up on us so we must never give up on Him. We must learn to laugh at our pain and let God's Spirit heal our wounds.
