A reflection from filing taxes (Happy Sabbath!)
Recently, I had been bogged down thinking about how to file taxes. Due to my family’s circumstances last year, it was particularly confusing this time.
I came across a post where someone with a similar situation asked if the $2,000 quote they got was reasonable. Around the same time (forgot if it was the same post), I read a comment that mentioned that there are expensive CPAs that are good but there are also expensive CPAs that get things wrong.
In addition to not wanting to pay a hefty price to have taxes prepared, a thought that came to mind was, even if I were to hire someone to do my taxes, at the end of the day, I am responsible for what is filed. It doesn’t matter if I hired someone, I would still be on the hook if anything goes wrong. And I think faith is like that too.
In the end, whatever we choose to do/believe, we are responsible for it. There are no excuses; we can’t say, it is because so and so told me this. We also can’t relieve ourselves of the responsibility by saying that we’re only following the “church” (whichever branch/denomination it is).
Each of us is responsible for ourselves. And God has provided the structure, He preserved His words and gave us both Old and New Testaments, that each one of us can read for ourselves. He has also promised the Holy Spirit as a teacher.
> But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you. (John 14:26 NASB2020)
> ”For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”(Jeremiah 31:33-34 NASB2020)
Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t listen to others. Rather, I’m saying that when we listen, we should always discern and judge. (Actually, we should even judge the thoughts that appear in our own minds.)
> ”Have two or three prophets speak, and have the others pass judgment.“ (1 Corinthians 14:29 NASB2020)
Anyways, I finally finished filing my taxes. Prior to this, I was dreading it so much that I even prayed about it. Even though in the end, we’re overpaying in taxes (I won’t go into details), but given the situation, it felt like the most right way to file it.
And when I went to pay my taxes, I was very surprised to see that the dollar amount (excluding cents) of my taxes payable matched up exactly with the amount in the account that I’m paying from for those digits. I know it may sound a bit superstitious, but I take it as a comfort from God, like a stamp of approval. The probability of this happening is around 0.0001 (0.01%) which is < 0.001 (0.1%). Academically speaking (partly joking), with a p-value around 0.0001, one would conclude that the result was statistically highly significant and was not by chance.
Despite having to overpay, I’m exuding with joy that God loves me so. And I want to spread this happiness on this holy Sabbath day by wishing everyone to also feel the love of God in your daily lives (Because He really does love you)!