A girl took her hamster to the vet. It hadn’t moved in three days. Wouldn’t eat. Wouldn’t drink. Just leaned up against the side of its cage. Stuck. The worried owner explained that the poor hamster had escaped before she found it going around in circles by the fridge. Frowning, the vet lifted the hamster from the cage. The critter began walking around the table as if all was well. They were baffled. Then the vet noticed a square bulge in the hamster’s cheek. And pulled out a fridge magnet. A fridge magnet. While enjoying its freedom, the hamster had downed the magnet, then spent the next three days stuck to the side of its cage, thanks to its magnetic personality.
I’m like that hamster. Maybe you are too. Circumstances have us paralyzed. That job loss. That phone call. That uncertain market. That relationship. That pandemic. We all love to laugh, but at times we’re stuck to the side of our cage.
When I was a kid, I laughed about some of the Christians in church. They were cranky. Ever met a cranky Christian? Ever been one? When I was informed that I would spend eternity with these people, I was less than ecstatic.
We used to sing, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.”
Then everyone chanted, “Where?”
We answered, “Down in my heart.”
“Where?”
“Down in my heart.”
And I thought, They have to keep asking, because they can’t find it. To me “joyful Christian” was an oxymoron. Like airline food, jumbo shrimp, or Microsoft Works.
Recently, a guy said to me, “I don’t laugh outwardly, but I’m really quite joyful inside. This is just the face God gave me.” I smiled and said, “Tell your face about your joy. A stifled laugh is gonna back up on you and spread to your hips. So let it go.”
Sadly, some of us haven’t made the Good News look so good. But it is. We have been forgiven. Eternity is waiting. Nothing in all of history tops this good news. Nothing in all the world can steal it. The most important issues were dealt with by our Savior Jesus on an old rugged cross, and we’re free to rejoice. This should spread across our conversations, our relationships, and our faces, too.
When the great preacher Jonathan Edwards was just eighteen he delivered his first sermon. It was on Christian happiness. He had three points and I will apologize to him in heaven for stealing them.
- Our bad things will turn out for good. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” “All things” include the crud that happens on this fallen planet. But, as someone said: “Everything will be alright in the end. So if it is not alright it is not the end.” God is a redemptive God. He is at work in even this.
- Our good things can never be taken. When my brother-in-law Bill was nursing his wife through the final stages of Huntington’s, these were life-giving words. Whatever came, he was assured of God’s presence. Pardon for sin. Peace that endures. He knew that the truly good things were the permanent things.
- The best is yet to come. As believers, we cling tenaciously to the truth that love has the final move. That nothing, no matter how mysterious or painful can ever separate us from God’s love. Eternally.
A pastor was on a long flight. The captain asked the flight attendants to buckle up. Lightning lit the darkening skies. Cracks of thunder boomed above the roar of the engines. The plane was soon tossed about like a cork. White-knuckled passengers hung on. Prayer beads were activated.
A few seats away from the pastor a little girl sat with her feet tucked beneath her. She was enjoying a good book. With adults around her scared half to death, her tiny world seemed calm and orderly. When the plane finally landed and the passengers hurried to disembark, the pastor said to the little girl, “The storm was horrible. You didn’t seem to be afraid. How come?”
She smiled. “Cause my Daddy’s the pilot. And he’s taking me home.”
I don’t know what’s tossing you about. But your pilot does. He is in control. He has yet to miss a runway. And he’s taking us home.
Like that hamster, we’re tempted to swallow the wrong stuff. I think it’s time we fixed our thoughts on things that are “true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable. Things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8).
I think it’s time we put that verse on a fridge magnet. Just keep it away from the hamster.
For more inspirational humor by Phil, check out his book Laugh Like a Kid Again, After all, like Phil said “I believe laughter is a windshield wiper. It won’t stop the rain, but it will keep you going. This is 42 short humorous stories that show us that God is with us when life hands us more than we can handle.”
You can also learn more by checking out his website at philcallaway.com
