For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
Death can be a scary thing, but so can life. There seems to be dangers around every corner. Dangers of rejection, shame, failure, success, pride, insignificance, and obscurity lurk behind every life opportunity. Fear of each of these things screams out at us, telling us stories about the future.
The fear of the death of love ones or the fear of death coming for us can cripple us as well. Passing every decision and act through the filter of, “is this safe?” paralyzes our life. What are we to do?
There is a lot that can be said about fighting fear, but we must remember this truth: live or die, we do so for the Lord.
When we live in fear of this or that, the temptation can be to attempt to protect ourselves. The issue with this isn’t just that we are terrible at protecting ourselves but that as believers who have accepted the gift of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we were bought with a price.* We do not belong to ourselves any longer.*
If we live, it must be done unto the Lord; if we die, it must be done unto the Lord.* It is His to decide what our life will look like, and it is His to decide what our death will look like.*
The stress of fear exists largely in the tension between what the future could look like and our inability to control it. When we realize that we are not to control the future at all, this stress all but disappears.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to surrender your life to Him by allowing Him to guide your steps and protect you. Perhaps God wants you to surrender your death to Him by trusting that your future is in His good and loving hands. Maybe today God wants you to stop trying to control. Perhaps today God wants you to stop trying to protect. Maybe today God wants you to believe Him that He loves you and has a plan for you.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 516–517). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 362–363). InterVarsity Press.
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 481-482). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (pp. 450). Zondervan Publishing House.