Laughing Without Fear

November 5, 2019

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13

When I was a young girl, I was a daddy’s girl. I loved to go on “visitation” with him when he did his regular shut-in and nursing home visits. Several of my friends were afraid or awkward around “old people,” and they couldn’t understand why I loved it and went even though I wasn’t forced. The elderly people fascinated me. I wondered what I would be like as an old woman. Some of them were very cranky and hated their lives. Some were quite anxious and overwhelmed about the present and the future. But some were delightful. They laughed and talked and asked me to sing for them. They were delighted with everything, it seemed, and they loved my father. They told stories and entertained us as much as we did them.

Occasionally Dad and I would have a conversation following an encounter with a very special person. In every situation I could recall, the defining difference was their relationship with God. Dad would assure me that this person was different primarily because of a living and working relationship with Jesus Christ. Soon he would ask them to tell me their story. I remember one beautiful white-haired woman named Lois who shared with me her prayers and journals of when she was a young wife and her husband was a prisoner in WWI. The joy and strength of her memories burned into my own mind. They were memories of faith and peace, and full of laughter. The first time I read Proverbs 31:25, I knew this was the description of Lois. She was clothed with strength and dignity, and even with her husband’s future uncertain as a prisoner, she was able to laugh without fear. Years later when I saw her, she was still joyful, even in the waning years of life here on earth. I knew I wanted that to be me.

How did she do that? She believed in God with every cell of her being and did exactly as Isaiah recommended. She put her hand in the hand of God and completely relied on His promise to be with her and help her. It’s working for me too. It will work for you and for everyone who makes that choice. Anxiety is a choice. So is facing the future with laughter and without fear.

• Who is an elderly person who inspires you and you think you would like to be like them when you are that age? Pray for them today with thanksgiving. Let them know how you admire them. Try to arrange to spend some time with them.
• Pray: Lord, help me keep my hand in Yours so the future does not frighten me, but I can laugh.