• Home
  • About
    • Our Contributors
    • Our Beliefs
  • Blog
  • Bible Studies
    • Scripture Dig
  • Archives
  • Shop
  • Advertise
  • Contact
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Do Not Depart

Encouragement and Tools to Abide in God's Word

You are here: Home / Bible Studies / 40 Days with The Storyteller Lent / Is There Grace in Accounting?

Is There Grace in Accounting?

April 2, 2019 by Lisa Burgess 11 Comments

Welcome to Do Not Depart! Be sure to subscribe to the Do Not Depart RSS feed or email updates to receive regular encouragement and tools to abide in God's Word.

Welcome back to Do Not Depart! If you haven't already, subscribe to the Do Not Depart RSS feed or email updates to receive regular encouragement and tools to abide in God's Word. This post may include affiliate links. To read our full disclosure policy, click here. Thank you for supporting this site!

Before I retired to motherhood, I was an accountant. I enjoyed keeping track of numbers. I still do.

But what about God? Is He the original accountant? And how does grace factor in?

Join us for Days 23-25 of our Lenten readings (download the “40 Days with the Storyteller” complete schedule here).

Grace in Accounting

How Much Does That Cost?

Read Luke 14:25-33 for Monday, Day 23 (note: we swapped readings for Day 22 and Day 23)

Do you tend to overestimate or underestimate how much time or money a project will cost you?

When I make my schedule for the day, I usually guess wrong. I think I can get much more accomplished in 30 minutes than I can actually accomplish in 2 hours.

So when Jesus tells His followers in Luke 14:25-33 to figure out the cost before they start starting building a house, it bothers me. I know I’m bad at it.

But maybe we should look deeper at His meaning. None of us can accurately estimate future costs, but we can commit to following Jesus regardless of the cost. We won’t do that perfectly either. But our willingness to let go of hindrances and distractions will open up room for Jesus’s grace to come in.

Let’s always leave space for grace.

Every One Counts

Read Matthew 18:10-14 for Tuesday, Day 24

Even though our accounting is often off, God’s counts are always solid.

When even one is missing, God knows. And He acts on what He knows.

When Jesus spoke about the 99 sheep in the fold, and the 1 missing, He was reassuring His listeners: God notices you. He keeps up with where you are. He will come find you if you lose your way.

When something is missing—especially when that something is His child—God won’t ignore it. He reaches out.

Every one counts. That’s grace, too.

Who Gives More?

Read Luke 15:11-19 for Wednesday, Day 25

In the parable of the prodigal son, accounting again comes into play. The younger son knows the amount that is due him. Instead of collecting later, he wanted to collect now.

And spend now. Freely. Recklessly. Extravagantly.

But even in his foolishness, he couldn’t outspend his father. When he returned home on his knees, his father poured on the goods even thicker.

We can’t outgive God. Not now. Not later.

God’s accounting can’t be charted on columns of credits and debits. He always tilts things in our favor from His overflow of grace.

As you continue on your journey of Lent, thank God for how He keeps up with you.

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Are you a math person? What do you appreciate about God’s accounting?

Is there grace in God’s accounting? More readings for Lent. #40DaysWithTheStoryteller

Click To Tweet

Share
Pin4
Tweet
4 Shares

Related

About Lisa Burgess

Lisa looks for God in ordinary people and in everyday moments, then shares where she finds Him on her blog LisaNotes.com. She is a wife to Jeff and a mother to two girls here, one in heaven.

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Says Paul {Memorize Philippians 1:18-19}
Lessons on Grace and Mercy

Comments

  1. Laurie says

    April 3, 2019 at 11:28 am

    I did not know you were an accountant, Lisa! There are so many good bits in this post. I love this: “We can’t outgive God. Not now. Not later.” No matter how generous we are, we are not more generous than God, who has given us life, time, and grace. My projections on how much I can accomplish in a given amount of time are also usually pretty far off. I used to be continually late because I always wanted to accomplish just one more thing before I left home. Thankfully, I realized how rude I was, making others wait for me, so I now leave home on time no matter what!

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      April 3, 2019 at 3:33 pm

      A generous God indeed! We are so blessed.

      I had a friend who was perpetually late for years and years. But after a serious car accident, she totally shifted and became early to everything. It’s funny how our time estimates (and other things) can change with a different perspective. That’s awesome that you were able to willingly make that change, Laurie.

      I still draw on my accounting background from time to time, but it’s pretty much a distant memory now. :)

      Reply
  2. Mary Geisen says

    April 3, 2019 at 7:54 pm

    Great thoughts! I am not a numbers person but I love that in God’s economy it doesn’t matter. The line where you write, we can’t outgive God really speaks to me. He always shares His abundance with us.

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      April 3, 2019 at 9:30 pm

      “He always shares His abundance with us” – what a God we have! Thanks, Mary.

      Reply
  3. AprilNelson25 says

    April 4, 2019 at 10:30 am

    I’m so glad that God cares about keeping up the the one that strays from the 99. I’ve been that one and to know that He rescues is such a powerful lesson of love. I know that this made me think too about how we need to care about the one of the 99 that strays. We need to reach out. It actually brought to my attention that I’ve slacked off in my encouragement texts that I was sending out for a while. It’s amazing how God uses various methods to put on our hearts what He wants us to do!! #HeartEncouragement linkup

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      April 4, 2019 at 11:21 am

      I’m also glad that He keeps up with every single one of us. Nobody escapes His care, even when we try to hide. His love is wider than our escape routes. :) Thanks for sharing this testimony, April. I love reminders that God is a personal God, and that He uses many things to show us our purpose and His love!

      Reply
  4. floyd says

    April 4, 2019 at 9:26 pm

    I like the analogy, Lisa. All that is in this cosmos is known to God, including the numbers… imagine that… He knows the amount of stars in the universe, the number of grains of sand, and the number of hairs on our head.

    Nothing gets passed him and each soul counts. That’s a good thought to ponder.

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      April 5, 2019 at 10:05 pm

      That’s a lot of numbers He has to keep up with! ha. Yes, I’m glad each one counts. None of us get lost in the crowd with God.

      Reply
  5. Tea With Jennifer says

    April 4, 2019 at 10:27 pm

    Lisa, I found this interesting, my daughter is a CPA (Chartered Practicing Accountant). God’s precision is always amazing, especially in the physics of this universe! :-D
    Blessings,
    Jennifer

    Reply
    • Lisa says

      April 5, 2019 at 10:06 pm

      It’s so crazy when we look at any one aspect of the universe and see how complex it is. Yet God created it all. Yes, His precision is amazing indeed, Jennifer!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 40 Days with The Storyteller: Lent Recap - Do Not Depart says:
    April 24, 2019 at 9:15 am

    […] Is There Grace in Accounting? (Luke 14:25-33, Matthew 18:10-14, Luke 15:11-19): Lisa pointed out in three parables “how God tilts grace in our favor.” We come up short, and He gives an overflow of grace. […]

    Reply

Join the DiscussionCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This Month’s Theme

  • Jesus is the Way
  • And He Shall Be Called Series Intro

Enter your email address to have new posts emailed to you:

We’ll come to you

Enter your email address to have new posts emailed to you

Categories

Bible Memory – Lent 2021

Memorizing Isaiah 12

Let the Children Come

Let the Children Come

Want more #HideHisWord resources?

Memorizing Psalm 1

Find Us on Facebook


Search

Recent Posts

  • Series Wrap-Up: The Lord Is My Light
  • His Marvelous Light
  • When the Darkness Deepens
  • Though I Sit in Darkness…
  • Let Your Light Shine
  • Life-Giving Light

Archives

© 2025 · Pretty Creative WordPress Theme by, Pretty Darn Cute Design