The Apostle Paul says that believers are to ‘…count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus(Romans 6: 11).  I was never very good at math, but I know what Paul means.  ‘Count yourselves…’   Consider and contemplate what we know to be true when we face fears and the unknown.   We’re dead to sin, alive to God in Christ.  Add that up.

I was thinking of my father, gone many years now.  He was a good guy.  People liked my Dad.  Rarely heard him badmouth someone.  He was a hard-working house painter, who lugged ladders around well into his late 60’s.  Fell off roofs a few times, breaking a leg or two.  Daily smoked a couple packs of Chesterfield cigarettes at a time when doctors thought smoking was good for the asthma that plagued him.   Also weighed down with fears and unfulfilled dreams.  Growing up, I heard all about those dreams of his.  But he was too afraid.  Change came with too high a price for my Dad.  He liked his routine.  Maybe his dreams were enough for him?  Maybe.

What about us?  What do we do with dreams and fears?  When God puts something new and exciting in our lives, Satan, using our insecurities, chokes out many of those godly blessings in a paralyzing spasm of apprehension and fright.  Who doesn’t face uncertainties daily?  That’s when we need to ‘count ourselves’ alive in Jesus!

That’s right!  We are not the sum total of our fears but the grand total of new life in Christ.  Focus on what we know is true, from the Bible, from God Himself.  Not on the insecurities of life.  That takes a conscious decision.  Doesn’t come easy.  Not much effort to sit around, biting our fingernails, afraid to open the front door.  ‘Count yourselves…alive to God in Christ…’  Can we do that?  Paul says we can.

When fears inevitably hit us, consider what we know in Christ.   ‘Count your many blessings, name them one by one…’  The more we count them, the less room there will be for those pesky fears and worries.  You can count on that!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, that we can always count on you.  We consider your love such a blessing to us.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.