“Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, the celebrated Brooklyn divine, was visiting the famous London preacher, Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon. After a hard day of work and serious discussion, these two mighty men of God went out into the country together for a holiday. They roamed the fields in high spirits like boys let loose from school, chatting and laughing and free from care. Dr. Cuyler had just told a story at which Mr. Spurgeon laughed uproariously. Then suddenly he turned to Dr. Cuyler and exclaimed, ‘Theodore, let’s kneel down and thank God for laughter!’ And there, on the green carpet of grass, under the trees, two of the world’s greatest men knelt and thanked the dear Lord for the bright and joyous gift of laughter.”

I likewise thank my God for the bright and joyous gift of laughter. It has been my absolute joy to laugh along with my dear friends in recent days. It has been a pure tonic for my soul, and I trust it has for them too.

For we are living in strange times. I have come to the point where I hesitate before turning on the news, almost bracing myself as I wonder what I’m going to discover has happened in the world overnight. Uprisings in the Middle East, western nations on the verge of economic collapse, natural disasters affecting every part of the globe.

I live in a nation which has turned its back on the ways and statutes of the Lord God Almighty, where the idols of the land are sport and celebrity, and I have never felt more like an “alien and stranger in the world” (1 Pe 2:11).

I watch the church turning its back on the Holiness and Awesomeness of God Almighty in favour of embracing God All-matey and a burden grows in my heart that cannot be shifted. Finding like-minded pilgrims seems to be a much harder task these days, and a loneliness grows in my spirit.

I read of the increasing persecution of the church worldwide, I see pictures of the faces of families living in fear of their lives for claiming the Name of Christ in a land where Islam is the dominant religion, and I am haunted by those faces and I suffer with them.

Closer to home, I daily battle against indwelling sin, even whilst knowing that in Christ I have died to sin. I witness loved ones struggling to cope with the everyday routines of life, and I long for that day when there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain.

I have often wondered whether our Lord, who was a “man of sorrows” (Isa 53:3), laughed with his friends. Matthew Henry notes that “We never read that He laughed, but often that He wept”. RC Sproul takes this view: “In the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament—for example, in Ecclesiastes—we’re told that certain things are appropriate at certain times. There’s a time to plant, a time to reap, a time to build, a time to tear down; there’s a time to dance, a time to sing, a time to laugh, a time to cry. Since God has, in his seasons, appointed appropriate times for laughter, and Jesus always did what was appropriate, it would seem to me that when it was time to laugh, he laughed.”

I thank my God that in His great mercy and love He has provided me with a group of friends whom I love dearly, for we share a tie that can never be broken – the precious blood of Christ; who share the same sorrows; and yet with whom I can share the occasional moment of laughter, sometimes even with tears rolling down my cheeks whilst I do so.