They Named Him Laughter

The Old Testament character Abraham was 75 years old when the Lord called him to move to a land he had never visited. He went, sight unseen.

And Abraham was 100 when he finally received the promised heir through whom he would become the “father of many nations.”

A year earlier he had laughed at the prospect. How could his barren wife give birth at 90? Sarah laughed too.

God responded with what has become one of the most cherished verses in the Bible: “Is anything too difficult for the Lord”?

And so God gave them Isaac. His name meant laughter—and he was—a source of joy and laughter for this senior couple way past their prime.

I’ll think of Abraham when aging gets hard, when facing barren times, in need of a miracle, in need of some laughter.

“Is anything too difficult for the Lord” (Genesis 18:14)?