When The Math Ain't Mathing

In accounting, every number must balance. The credits and debits must align perfectly because when the "math is mathing," it signals that everything is okay. This idea has entered our culture; when we say, "the math ain't mathing," we mean something is wrong. We see it all around us. We see it when politicians promise transparency but then block access to information. We see it when corporate profits soar while wages for average Americans stay the same. We see it when budgets for prisons increase, but investments in schools and communities decline. Something is deeply off.

This way of thinking makes sense in the world, but it becomes a problem when we apply it to our spiritual lives. We get stuck when we expect God's promises to add up according to our human logic. In God’s economy, things don’t always reconcile on a human balance sheet. He knows how to create abundance from scarcity and do more with less. This is what God was trying to teach the people of Israel. As they stood on the edge of their future, they looked at what they lacked and concluded the math was not mathing. What they failed to understand, and what we must grasp today, is that God’s power is most visible right in the middle of our deficits.