My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah.
(Psalm 62:5-8)
Grace comes into the soul, as the morning sun into the world; first a dawning; then a light; and at last the sun in his full and excellent brightness.
– Thomas Adams
The clouds, too, drink up their share,
raining it back down on the mountains from the upper reaches of Your home,
Sustaining the whole earth with what comes from You.
And the earth is satisfied.
Thus You grow grain for bread, grapes for wine, grass for cattle—
all of this for us.
And so we have bread to make our bodies strong,
wine to make our hearts happy,
oil to make our faces shine.
Every good thing we need, Your earth provides;
our faces grow flush with Your life in them.
(Psalm 104: 13-15 The Voice)
I once had a friend who started filling out his tax return with the bottom line – the amount of taxes he was willing to pay: $0.00. It always took him a few weeks, but in the end he paid $0.00. Did I mention he owned a Ferrari and a few hotels and bragged about his off-shore accounts?
Alas he died a few years ago, still a relatively young man in his late forties. He left no heirs. I don’t know who got his money, but it wasn’t me, so I don’t think about it much except at tax time. It’s too sad.
We have a problem. My husband, who is retired, took on a few projects last year and they were more successful than he anticipated. The accountant called us into his office to sign our tax returns and said he was sorry to deliver bad news, but we owed the government more money. I have a few friends who are accountants and they hate this part of the job, especially when they are fighting tax season sleep deprivation.
This time I had to smile. After some lean years and whining and complaining at tax time I am changing. I now consider it a privilege to pay taxes. I am grateful for what our government provides. We live in a safe country with clean air and clean water. Our children are well-educated. Our roads are maintained and our airports are safe. We have freedom to believe what we choose. And after the trials of the past couple of years can I tell you how utterly grateful I am for disaster aid and especially Canadian medical care?
I spent some time with my son’s family in the government-sponsored mobile home camp in High River after the flood which was the biggest natural disaster in our history. There were good people there helping through very tough times.
When our son-in-law was discharged from the hospital after being given a 0% chance of surviving the necrotizing fasciitis that sent him into toxic shock, he walked out not owing a penny for the superb care he received for two months. The cost was well into seven figures and his family still has their home and can continue life as before. Everyday I receive prayer requests from people who are not so favoured.
I do not begrudge helping to pay for a neighbour’s education, or healthcare, or for snowplows and sanding trucks that make his journey easier. I appreciate trade delegations and police and fire and ambulance services. I honour the court system and food safety inspectors. I thank both the military and the peace negotiators and the thousands of secretaries who really keep this country moving.
I realized that I have accepted complaining about taxes and listening to complaints about paying taxes this time of year for so long that it has seemed normal. When I vote I cast my ballot for the person I think might be the most capable of being a good public servant and administering the government fairly. I am not voting for God. That position is filled. Humans will make mistakes and be tempted to misuse power and sometimes I am disappointed. ‘Tis the nature of humans, so we do need to pray for them, be attentive, write letters and keep up with maintaining the privileges we enjoy, but we also need to honour those who serve in government – and that includes the tax man (or woman).
So today I salute you, much maligned revenue services. We give you this cheque with our blessing. You are welcome. Use it well. We count it a privilege to be able to work and pay taxes at our age. Thank you for your faithful service. We honour you for your hard work and diligence.
A reminder. When the Apostle Paul (and also the Apostle Peter) admonished believers to honour governing authorities they were talking about people like Nero who used Christians as party lights, and Herod who had Jesus flogged. None of our leaders have sunk to that level. Our leaders, whether we voted for them or not, whether we approve of them or not, are owed revenue, respect, and honor. They can’t do the jobs they are supposed to do without it. And it’s the way of love.
“This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:6-8)
I’m unduly fond of the little crocus flower with its white fuzz showing up like the tiny hairs on Grandma’s chin in the sun. When I was a child I brought Grandma a fistful of prairie crocus blooms as soon as they poked through last season’s dead leaves of grass. Grandpa would say, “Well, we made it through another winter, Ma. There’s your proof.”
We made it through.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you.
Sometimes it feels like our dreams and visions are buried under the snows of winter when spring should have shown up by now.
Sometimes it’s very tempting to take things into our own hands and help God out a little. We know what happened when Abraham tried to figure out how to fulfill the promise of fathering a son by his own ingenuity. It resulted in a son who carried and passed on the wounds of rejection his whole life. When the prophet Samuel didn’t show up in time to quell the murmurs of lack of confidence in the leadership of the newly crowned King Saul, the insecure leader panicked and offered the sacrifice himself. The dream became a nightmare right there.
I’m too embarrassed to tell you the things I’ve done in the past to manipulate the fulfillment of a God-given vision. At the root of all of them was an over-developed sense of responsibility and a lack of trust in the goodness of God. I know I’m not the only one. All around me is the evidence of people with good long-term goals employing short-sighted methods. The pragmatism of belief/unbelief can really screw up our lives. How many people have signed up for a mate or a mortgage or a move – or even a cell phone plan – because the “close enough” solution seemed like the way to force a promise to bloom in our timing?
One of the best parts of the story told in the book While He Lay Dying (link here) is this: Picture a young pastor with a vision trying to employ creative methods to get church people, including children, to overcome apathy and unite in love to take the importance of prayer for the Body of Christ seriously. See him making posters, scheduling classes and pinning sign-up sheets in the foyer. Listen for the response. It sounds a bit like a picnic area under snow.
Then picture people reconciling their differences to come together and pray 24 hours a day. See the call to prayer spread to tens of thousands around the world. See little children nagging their parents to pray for Mr. Bruce while he lay in a coma on the verge of death. See the church arising, throwing off the coldness of resignation and melting apathy with love. See God bring about the vision His way. See the message of the power of a God who is still the God of miracles continue to inspire burned-out pastors, disappointed grievers and so many others who have lost sight of hope around the world. Realize all this happened while Bruce did nothing, absolutely nothing. He simply lay on that bed, his life supported by machines and the prayers of thousands, and in that state God fulfilled his dreams.
Waiting is not about being passive. When it’s time we need to run, to fight, to build, to stay awake all night. Waiting is about trusting for God to bring about His promises, His way, in His timing. It’s about standing in the dark like Gideon’s tiny army, feeling somewhat foolish, with a clay pitcher over our torch waiting to smash it. It’s about waiting for the “Now!”
It’s about trust. It’s about faith. God’s long term plans are not about our hard work, ingenuity or gift of the gab. He partners with faith.
Wait for it…
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this.
(Psalm 37:4,5)
Do you remember the story of the ant and the grasshopper? It’s a fable by Aesop about an ant who worked hard storing up provision for the winter and a grasshopper who danced the summer away. It is a tale meant to teach a moral, and it does. Don’t waste the good times because hard times are a-coming. I wonder if we can say the same about not wasting hard times?
My husband pointed out that today is mid-winter, halfway point between winter solstice and the vernal equinox. (I’ve never heard of a play titled “A Mid-winter Night’s Dream” have you?) Obviously the hay is not growing much in these fields near our home and the snow is a bit deep for dancing. Since I am not fond of winter sports and in my lifetime have broken three bones slipping on the ice, I have to work on my attitude toward winter.
The blue-tinged snow and mountains are pretty, I’ll grant you that. In an effort to be always thankful I have also noticed that winter also tends to be the most productive time in my life as far as getting caught up with paperwork, writing, studying, sewing, mending, and inside house repairs are concerned. It’s a time for planning gardens and perusing seed catalogues. It’s a time of waiting and preparing for prosperity. Apparently the Hebrew word for waiting has at its root a picture of braiding a rope. Farmers, fishermen, artisans, and folk festival musicians all need time to get their acts together. Sitting by the fire braiding rope is a good picture of this.
We have been taught to think that we must use good times to prepare for hard times, but I wonder if hard times are not there to help us prepare for good times. Prosperity can be even more difficult to manage well than want. Some, like the ant, live in fear and cannot allow themselves to dance when the evenings are warm. Others, like the grasshopper, accomplish nothing more with their abundance than spending it on their own pleasure. Very few who find themselves with abundance in the form of power know how to handle it wisely — thus the expression, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
I believe the Lord prepares his most trustworthy servants with long seasons of harsh winter to get them to the place where they don’t need sunshine and flowers to live in a place of contented joy. They will not be dependent on ideal circumstances to allay their fears or give them freedom to dance.
For those trained by adversity to trust in God, every day is a beautiful day.
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
(From Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
by Robert Robinson )
If there were no tribulation, there would be no rest; if there were no winter, there would be no summer.
– John Chrysostom
Charis: Subject to Change 