Fearless

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try." -- unknown

I was reading something yesterday about God "showing himself". This person made the comment that "God is not hidden. He is ignorable". I have to say, I completely agree with this statement. He doesn't force Himself on us. He earnestly desires a relationship with us, but He steps back and lets us make that choice. He wants us to WANT to spend our time with Him. I find it funny how He strategically places Himself for us to see His work in our lives though. He doesn't stop spending time on us just because we stop spending time on Him. A devotion here, a bible study there, a comment from a friend, an email that touches my heart.
I was in a bible study yesterday at lunch and the speaker said, "Satan knows he can't have your soul, but he tries as hard as he can to make you miserable or to use you to make someone else miserable." He tries to steal our joy. My Mom has said that for as long as I can remember, but this morning as I read the quote above, something registered. I realized that Satan uses fear to steal my joy. He uses a fear of failure. For years I have avoided doing a lot of things because I feared I wouldn't be successful at them. I can't know the outcome if I don't try. I have to decide to try...to overcome my fear, and in doing so, kick Satan in the face and make it real clear that he has no place here. My devotion this morning had a link to Lysa Terkeurst blog. She just did a spot on 700 Club and she told a story about brownies (Oh, how I would love one, but unfortunately, they didn't make it to the diet list) and life's little mess ups. One comment she made resounded loud and strong. We are not defined by life's little mess ups. The mess ups don't define our role in life. We are defined by our Saviour. We are children of the Most High God. How special we are to Him! He has something special planned for each of us. How can we find that something if we are afraid to try? I have been challenging myself to step out of the mold and find what I truly enjoy...what is important to me...who I am inside...who I'm meant to be. It is quite a journey and with God's grace and mercy, I'm making big steps forward and only little steps back.