God’s sense of humor always catches me by surprise.  Since timing is an important element of humor, that makes sense.

Take today, for example.  I have been looking for my flute for several months.  The urge to start playing again hit me but I could not find that thing.  Today’s prayer theme was complaining to the Lord that my prayer life makes no difference, and by the early evening I suspect God was tired of hearing me whine.

A still, small voice said, “Try me.”

“Okay.  Where’ my flute?”

“Did you look in your music stand travel bag?”

Well…no.  I’d gone through the basement and the upstairs spare room.  I was convinced it was buried in the rubble that is my former studio.  But now my curiosity was peaked.  I got the bag out, dusted off the cobwebs, and looked inside.

Guess what? 

I think God has an excellent sense of humor, but I often find I'm the only one laughing. Voltaire (a French author from the 18th century) said, “God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.” Why is that? I think people have this image of God as someone really angry, ready to drop the hammer on anyone who screws up. This in spite of the fact that over and over again, God uses relational language in scripture to illustrate that He is a loving Father who wants only our best.

A better picture of God was given to me by Tim Cosby. Tim has been an associate pastor and now is a personal coach. He talked about God as a father with a two year old, bending over and gently coaxing the child saying, “Come, come, come.” A good father doesn't blame a two year old for being imperfect. A good father encourages, directs and gently corrects. A good father has a sense of humor.

An example of God's humor is this blog. Never have I dreamed of being a writer, nor would I have imagined I'd have anything worthwhile to share with a large audience. I know writers with a capital 'W'. Writers that are published, that have regular columns in weighty literary magazines. Writers of substance. Me? I have always struggled with words and been painfully aware of their limitations. You think you have expressed something clearly, yet you find instead there has been miscommunication and misunderstanding. Words have often frustrated me. I'm a painter. That's my medium.

So God thought He'd give me a compelling story. A story that needed to be told, not painted. I tried to explain to Him that I'm not a writer and that I couldn't do it. He reminded me that He delights in using the weak and the foolish. “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” I Corinthians 1:26-29.

Weak and foolish? Well, I certainly qualify for that!

God and I laughed.