Every morning, my husband and I listen to the news for a few minutes before going to work. Lately there’s been a lot of talk about taxes, how much is fair, what should and shouldn’t the American government be doing, etc.
I realize this is a very hot topic (hence, I’ve been hearing about it on the news a lot), and I know there are passionate, diverse opinions across the board. So I’m not going to get into what I think. I actually don’t know completely what I think, anyway. But I thought about this passage today and found it to be helpful in maintaining a gracious view toward government, even when things don’t go exactly the way I think they should.
Romans 13, from The Message:
1-3Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.
3-5Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you’ll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That’s why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live.
6-7That’s also why you pay taxes—so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.
8-10Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other “don’t” you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.
Photo by Cayusa (flickr.com)
11-14But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!
The word of God certainly is refreshing in comparison to the doom and gloom I sometimes hear on the news. I love that the Bible doesn’t shy away from “worldly” topics like taxes and finances, but it still makes sure we understand that at the end of the day, living our lives with passion for God’s Kingdom is our most important responsibility.
If you’re frantically trying to finish preparing your taxes today, may you be encouraged by Romans 13. “The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!”
For as long as I’ve been a Christian, financial issues have been a stumbling block to me.
Now, don’t get worried about me…I’m better off than a lot of people. I don’t have much debt. I actually balance my check book. I’m in control of my finances.
But therein lies the trouble. I like to be in control of my finances. I like to know what’s coming, when it’s coming, and decide how much is going out. I like to feel financially secure.
While I’m not advocating unnecessary debt, I do believe that there are times in our lives when God calls us out of security and into trust. There have been numerous times in my faith walk when God directed me to do the scary thing financially. I’d like to share a short story from my life about one of those times.
In high school, I felt like God had called me to go on a short term missions trip. I wasn’t particularly interested in “missions” or cross-cultural ministry. But I knew that He had spoken to my heart and told me to go. Even after I knew that He had spoken to me, I continued to push for more confirmation. I was like Gideon – I wanted to keep testing, putting out my fleece every night, and making sure that this really was God’s direction. After talking with trusted mentors and spending more time in prayer, I was still sure that God was calling me to go.
So I signed up, just a few months before the trip was scheduled. I had practically no money. I made $47 a week. My family didn’t have much they could contribute to me. I was completely dependent on outside donations to make the trip happen.
Knowing that I didn’t have the financial aspect of the trip under control terrified me. But I kept pressing forward. I mailed out dozens of support letters, many to people I didn’t even know, who were just on my church’s mailing list. I prayed, and I waited to see what God would do.
One week, I needed to mail out another round of support letters, and I realized that I had run out of stamps. I needed $40 worth of stamps to finish mailing the letters, and I was totally broke. All of my money had gone toward postage, paying for gas, and tithing, and I had no idea what to do. I told God that if He was going to make this whole thing work, He’d have to do something, because I was out of options.
The next day, I was sorting through some old papers in my bedroom and found a bank envelope. It had $47 in it, just enough to cover the stamps that I needed. Apparently I had gone to the bank one week and cashed my work check. Somehow I had put the envelope in a stack of papers and forgotten about it. At exactly the right time, it seemed that God had brought it to my attention! I was able to purchase the stamps I needed and get the last batch of support letters out.
Before I left for my trip, I had raised all of the support money I needed to go. Much of the money came from brothers and sisters in Christ that I had never known. I had no strong connection with them – only the bonding of being in Christ. I am so grateful for their obedience to God, for their sacrificial gifts of love to a young teenager.
That trip quite literally changed the course of my life. It affected my decisions about college, my career, and marriage. Best of all, it gave me a deep passion for the global Kingdom of God. I realized for the first time that the world was bigger than I had ever known, and that God cared about all of it. None of this would have been possible without trusting God for financial blessing and without the obedience of His church. If I had waited until I had everything under control, I may never have gone.
Trusting God for finances still isn’t easy for me. There are times when it feels like my heart is stuck in my throat, when my fear of the future overwhelms me. I want to have all my financial ducks in a row before I make a move in life, but God keeps reminding me that He is faithful. He is trustworthy. If He calls me, He’ll provide.
What about you? Do you have trouble trusting God for your finances? Is it tough to balance being wise about finances with being obedient to God’s calling? Leave a comment and tell us about a time God provided in a seemingly impossible situation.
