Joyful Conclusions...

I had an appointment with my tax service on Friday afternoon.  I was a little surprised at the amount that I had to pay Uncle Sam, but I had put some money aside and all would be well.  At the conclusion of our meeting my preparer had a question that he needed to check out concerning one of my income sources and told me that he’d give me a call when he got the information.  I went ahead and called him back yesterday and almost went through the roof when he gave me the adjusted figures.  The new amount due was substantially more than the preliminary numbers from our initial appointment.

Now if you remember, I stated that we would be talking a little more about the subject of joy throughout this week in the blog.   I made this phone call right after I had finished publishing that blog post and I have to admit, that at that point my feelings were not ones of joy!  Within a matter of just a few quick moments my thoughts and emotions went from astonishment, to anger, to the fear of how I was going to pay this and then to peace as I thought about Philippians 4:19 where it says that “my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (KJV).  Once that was settled I reviewed the reasoning behind the changes with my tax specialist and with that understanding I thanked him and set up a time to pick up the paperwork.

As I hung up the phone I looked over at my wife who was standing on the other side of my desk and burst out laughing as I reviewed what had just happened.  It was the exercise of all those emotions that really tickled my reaction.  I think that my natural mind immediately went into shock at the pronouncement of the amount due and was searching my data banks for some information to rectify the situation.  Thank God that I had hidden a solid understanding of God’s promises of provision to us in His word within my heart, or else I probably still be looking for answers!

As I talked this over with my wife, the joy of the Lord came upon me as I could see and feel His love working for us in this situation.  Romans 14:17 says that “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”  (NIV)  That is the explanation of what I experienced yesterday.  My peace and ensuing joy came not through a physical answer but because of my right standing with God and my faith and trust in His word.  Once I yielded all those crazy emotions over to Him the peace came.  This calming peace triggered His joy in me and was followed by the thought of a plan on how to meet the financial need.  And this all happened within a matter of moments as I listen to my tax specialist explain the changes on the phone!  My plan was set before I even hung up the receiver!

That’s what I call a joyful conclusion to what could have been a bad report!  That’s the type of life I believe that we as Christians should be living 24/7.  Sure the problems and questions will arise, but a life lived under the authority of His kingdom should result in peace and joy.  I like those odds, how about you?  Have a great day. Tune into His Word and keep asking yourself… “What Conclusions To The Situations In My Life am I expecting today?”