One of the most significant proofs of God’s government and care that my family has recently experienced occurred in our business. We’ve had a small engineering business for about 37 years, producing innovative equipment for the United States Department of Defense.
During tax preparation time, in early 2023, our accountant informed us of a new law that would apply to the 2022 tax year. The new law required that research and development expenses be categorized as capital investments and deducted over a period of five years, which was quite different from the previous law. Additionally, the new law would require us to treat 80 percent of reimbursements for such expenses as income and pay taxes on that income, and we realized that this would put us out of business immediately, because all of our business revenue comes from research and development projects paid for by US Department of Defense agencies.
I began learning more about God as divine Mind, always operating.
It was a devastating blow. We prayed about the situation for months, also asking a Christian Science practitioner for help.
The thought came to me that the men and women in Congress, as well as their staff members, sometimes write laws and regulations with good intentions, but without realizing the unintended consequences of their actions on some people and businesses. In my prayers, I began learning more about God as divine Mind, always operating. Mind’s creation naturally expresses intelligence and wisdom and love.
The term omniscience is a lovely way to convey God’s complete intelligence and wisdom. And it’s used to define intelligence in the chapter “Recapitulation” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy:
“Question. — What is intelligence?
“Answer. — Intelligence is omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence” (p. 469).
God’s wisdom is always flowing to all. I had a growing realization of God’s intelligent control over everything in His creation, which is completely spiritual. There was confidence in my prayers that divine Principle operates in every situation.
A citation in Science and Health assured us of Mind’s complete control: “The real jurisdiction of the world is in Mind, controlling every effect and recognizing all causation as vested in divine Mind” (p. 379).
The deadline for filing for the 2022 tax year was extended. In early fall, we encountered some articles that were attacking companies who were lobbying against the tax regulation affecting us. It was reported that there was significant support in Congress to fix the bill, but as the weeks went on, nothing happened.
One day my husband spent a long time studying the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations and listening for God’s guidance. He discovered some helpful things about how certain regulations interacted with each other and sent an email to our accounting firm. He felt comforted by the knowledge that divine Love was leading the way, clarifying his thoughts about the situation. In so many instances in the past three decades, we had seen dramatic proof of God’s nurturing, loving care guiding us in our business.
The next day, an expert at the accounting firm responded that my husband’s interpretation was not correct. However, my husband knew his interpretation was correct, in part because he had felt divinely led to discover the relationship between the two regulations.
I had a growing realization of God’s intelligent control over everything in His creation.
Later that day we had a phone conference with the person who prepared our taxes and another person at the firm who was an expert in the specific regulations that concerned our business. Both people at the firm realized that my husband’s understanding was right, and they started rejoicing. How utterly delightful it was to hear two professional tax experts so happy to acknowledge that my husband, a regular business owner, had been right!
Our tax accountant was able to file our taxes properly and on time. The problem for our business dissolved, and things are moving forward. We are so very grateful for God’s guidance.
Within three weeks of our filing, news came out that the IRS had reinterpreted the regulations, and this was in line with our understanding. As the Bible states, “God is . . . a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1). We are very grateful for the fact that “the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him” (Deuteronomy 4:35).
