Tax relief

I’ve never considered myself to be mathematically inclined. As an adult, I’ve had to relearn a few math concepts as they apply to real-life circumstances.

My big sister, who is an accountant, had always been a tremendous help to me, especially during income tax time. But last year, as a newlywed, I moved to another state far away from my sister and decided that I wanted to work on our family’s income taxes on my own. So I purchased some computer tax software and knew that my sister was just a phone call away in case I became confused. I gathered the necessary files and began inputting information into the program.

In the past, working with my sister, the process had seemed pretty easy. This time, however, the process was a lot more complicated. I worked and reworked several different forms and called my sister a couple of times. She wasn’t able to help because she wasn’t familiar with the tax laws in two of the three states where I’d lived. Although I felt incompetent, I resisted the idea to hire a tax professional. After all, I’d already paid money for the tax software program and spent so much time on the effort. I sensed the finish was close, but I was so frustrated that the numbers weren’t making sense.

One day, around this time, a friend asked me to drive her to a Bible workshop and assist her for the day. I agreed to go, but wasn’t exactly pleasant company. Almost in tears in the car, I told this friend my predicament and how I’d been unable to sleep because I couldn’t figure out what I’d been doing wrong with my taxes.

When we got to our destination, I learned that the purpose of the Bible workshop was to explore Bible accounts that illustrate how understanding the “divine economy” helps us meet the challenges presented in today’s economy. I thought, “How timely!” It was as if God was saying, “Here, Spring, let me help you.”

To open the workshop, the speaker shared a definition of economy as “the management of the resources of a community, country, etc., especially with a view to its productivity,” and another definition of economy pertaining to theology, “the method of God’s government of and activity within the world.” Workshop participants were asked to consider the two different accounts of creation in the first and second chapters of Genesis as representing two contrasting economic models.

The first account represented the divine economy in which the manager, God, makes sure that everything needed is accounted for and the productivity of the economy is ensured. God is also a very active manager who at the end of the day checks the entire system and its productivity to ensure it is “very good.” The divine economic model is complete and all-inclusive.

The second account, or human economy, opens with “a mist” or big gray area, and the whole Adam and Eve scenario begins. In this case, the divine Manager is less involved. Man is asked to categorize, and classify by name, God’s creation. Deception, distrust, disobedience, and blame enter this fuzzy economic model, and finally, man, the employee, is laid off and burdened with a life of heavy labor.

As I thought through this example, I realized that as God’s loved child, I am included in that first model of divine economy, governed by God’s laws and held in His order. I remember feeling relief as I began to understand that God hadn’t left me alone to mess things up. I really enjoyed acknowledging the Bible precedent that God is my hands-on manager. As I considered these inspired ideas, I stopped worrying about our family’s income taxes and trusted that I would express the necessary wisdom that would lead to a right solution. After the workshop, I couldn’t wait to get home and take another look.

When I sat down at the computer again, a solution I hadn’t thought to try before came to mind. Within one hour I had the taxes done and all the numbers added up perfectly.

I was amazed at how much I actually understood and felt absolutely confident the work was complete. I can tell you I know what it means to “walk and leap and praise God!” When we got our Federal and State Tax refunds, we were able to pay off debt, and for the first time in many years, my new husband and I found ourselves completely debt-free.

This year, I was reminded of this experience as I sat down to begin working on our taxes.

The task I was fully prepared to work on for a whole week only took me two days. We still had to account for income in multiple states, but this time, I knew that God’s laws governed our “going out and coming in” and He was beholding everything as “very good!”

God's economy:

Science and Health
327:17 

King James Bible
Gen. 1:31
Ps. 121:8