THE COUNT -- Devotional for February 28, from "Good Seeds"

The very hairs of your head are numbered… So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Matthew 10:30; Psalm 90:12)

When I was a kid there was no such thing as “Sesame Street” (PBS’s puppet-based TV program designed to teach children to read). But when our three daughters were growing up we all got a steady diet of Bert and Ernie, Kermit the Frog, and my favorite, The Count. In appearance and accent this puppet resembled Count Dracula, but in temperament he was gentle and friendly, like Elmo or Big Bird. The Count’s entire life was dedicated to…counting. He found great fulfillment – even ecstatic delight – in counting the things around him, like the candles in his candelabra, the apples in a fruit bowl, the fingers and toes of all those in the room – and maybe even the buttons on their shirts! He counted with such happiness it almost seemed like he was “counting his blessings!” Maybe that’s why I was so enamored by him: he found great joy in the little things of life. He didn’t make mountains out of molehills, but I think he would willingly have made little vests and trousers for all the moles in the molehill – once he’d counted them! God is like the Count in that He concerns Himself with the tiniest possible details of His tiniest creatures, as well as all of our disasters and delights, small or large! It takes no greater effort for God to make an exact count of all the stars in space than to number the hairs on your head. Henry Dyer said, “God is great in GREAT things, but He’s very great in LITTLE things!” The very fact that God notices when the tiniest sparrow falls to its death is a reminder that He notices me, and cares about me, when I haven’t got a friend – when I haven’t got a prayer! He is intimately aware and in control of every ache and pain I endure. He is the only One who will never be irritated with my complaints about my medical or emotional or relational distresses. No one can endure a hypochondriac for long – no one, that is, except God! The psalmist wrote, “O God, You know when I sit or stand…and when I wander away. You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book” (Psalm 56:8 SM). Yes, God keeps a diary, and in it He writes about you and me, by name, every day! He notices everything, missing nothing. He watches us, like a doting father his tottering infant. And so, not just day by day, but moment by moment – not just mile by mile, but step by step, He guides and upholds us. Every hair on my head, every cell in your body, is of greatest concern to Him. So why should we hold back from bringing anything that concerns us – to Him?