April 15 is not my favorite day of the year. I have many happy associations with other dates in April: Mom’s birthday on the 18th, Nora (Emily’s daughter) on the 14th, and often Holy Week and Easter happens. Taken as a whole, April is a wonderful month of spring showers – or thunderstorms – budding flowers, and warm-but-not-too-hot temperatures.
That persnickety day, April 15th, can spoil the whole month sometimes. As a self-employed musician, it’s inevitable that I’m going to have a tax bill. This year, however, it seems everyone I know has a bill to pay on April 15 – so much for tax cuts to help the middle and lower classes!
I always consider the quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin: “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” After this year’s sucker punch tax bill, I’m beginning to reconsider that quote. Of course, he didn’t discuss the amount of tax was certain. I’ll give him that qualification, but taxes weren’t the certain amount most of us were expecting.
Dad reminded me of one of Mom’s mom-isms, “Count your blessings; if you weren’t making money, you wouldn’t have to pay taxes.” So true, Mom, but it’s hard for me to consider the blessing in paying almost one-third of earned money back to the government.
Enough grousing about taxes. Too many other uncertainties are often overwhelming. Certainly in the grand scheme of life, taxes don’t qualify as a great obstacle. God has consistently supplied our every need – including the ability to pay our tax bill. It’s the uncertainties of other things in our lives that can occasionally steal our joy.
The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to those in exile in Babylon. It’s a wonderful promise from God, but not necessarily for what we think it means. Many of you have this verse memorized and written on your hearts:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and a hope – never forget that.” (Jeremiah 29:11 The Voice translation)
This verse isn’t a promise of ending suffering or uncertainty. If we look at the context, we’ll see that the verse is an encouragement to thrive in the midst of our situations. The exiles wanted to go home to Jerusalem, but this letter from Jeremiah tells them they will be in exile for 70 years. 70 years! God’s instructions to them are clear:
“Build your houses – make homes for your families because you are not coming back to Judah anytime soon. Plant gardens, and eat the food you grow…Pursue the peace and welfare of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to Me, the Eternal, for Babylon because it if has peace, you will live in peace.” (Jeremiah 5 and 7, The Voice translation)
Pay taxes and pray for peace for this land where you are in exile. Our world is full of uncertainty, but God’s promises are true. Mary DeMuth says it this way: “Yes, of course, God knows the plans He has for us. And ultimately He will give us a glorious future. But as we walk out our lives on this crazy earth, let’s remember that the best growth comes through persevering through trials, not escaping them entirely. And when we learn perseverance, we find surprising joy.”
So I’ll persevere through tax season and all the other trials that come my way. And I’ll look for the joy of getting tax bills in the mail and checking this huge “blessing” off my list!
