Good Medicine

Read: Proverbs 15:13-17

“Guess what happened at Grandma and Grandpa’s,” Taylor said, giggling. She and her brother Elliot had just gotten home after spending the weekend with their grandparents. “Grandma had orange juice in a plastic pitcher, and when she picked it up—”

Taylor could no longer talk because she was laughing too hard, so Elliot finished the story. “The handle of the pitcher broke off!”

“Oh no!” said Mom. “It must have made a huge mess.”

“It did,” Taylor said. “Juice splashed all over the cupboards and onto the floor. And there was juice all over Grandma!”

“You should have seen the look on her face,” said Elliot. “She kept holding the handle and staring at it. But then she started to laugh, and we laughed too. We all laughed so hard that Grandpa came in to see what was going on.”

“I thought they’d be upset about the big mess, but they weren’t,” Taylor said. “Grandpa got a big grin on his face and said, ‘Well, Arlene, I know you didn’t like that pitcher, but you didn’t have to go this far to get rid of it, did you?’ We all laughed until our stomachs hurt.”

Dad chuckled. “That’s how your grandparents are. They can usually take an unfortunate situation and find some humor in it. Grandpa loves to quote the verse from Proverbs that says, ‘A joyful heart is good medicine.’”

Taylor nodded. “Cleaning up all that sticky juice didn’t seem so bad while we were laughing.”

“Sometimes it’s easy to get upset when something like that happens,” Mom said. “But you know what? Instead of getting frustrated when things don’t go our way, we can look for the good in the situation—and maybe even laugh about it. God is good, and He sent Jesus to save us and promises to always take care of us, even when things don’t go as planned—and that should always fill our hearts with joy.”

“I’m going to try to laugh more like Grandma and Grandpa,” said Elliot.

“Good,” said Mom. “You can start right now because I have something to tell you. Your gym socks somehow got in with the wrong batch of laundry today and, well—they turned pink!”

Elliot looked startled. Then he joined in as the rest of his family burst into laughter.

–Linda J. Opp

How about you? Do you get upset when unexpected things happen to you? Try to find some humor in the situation. You’ll enjoy life more, and it’s good for your health too! Of course, there are times when more serious things happen that you shouldn’t laugh about, but even then remember that God cares for you and is always with you. So laugh whenever you can and enjoy the life He’s given you!

Today's Key Verse: A joyful heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22 (CSB)

Today's Key Thought: Learn to laugh