Proverbs 14:13

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about laugher:

Proverbs 14:13 (ESV)

Even in laughter the heart may ache,

and the end of joy may be grief.

Only the heart knows the person. Society has done a great job of "masking" their pain with laughter and false joy. People drink to hide pain and start laughing even though their life is slipping away. We use competition, substance, friends, possessions and much more to fool the world around us into thinking we "have" and are "with it" and are happy. Solomon's Proverbs tells us the crude truth. Even when we hear laughter that doesn't mean the heart is full of real joy. Jesting is a common way for us to difuse stress. Like a valve on a pressure cooker, jesting simply lets off steam so the pot doesn't blow up. Don't be fooled by the fool who laughs when he/she should be fearful of the difficulty they are facing and should be crying out to God. Don't envy those you see laughing unless you know it flows as a fruit of the Spirit. Laughter is as much a drug to cover pain as the substance we use to generate the laughter.