Some insights from this week

So recently I've been struggling with how God is or isn't using me here (so many people I want to know Christ and no one seems to be getting any closer!) and in general. I feel like I could be doing so much more but I'm not, and it bothers me so much! I know that some people have been reached by reading these entries, but thats hard for me to understand because all it is is my ramblings. But then God showed me some verses in 1 Corinthians. (Also of note, I was compelled to read these after getting really really irritated with someone and I was sooo close to snapping, the only thing I could think of to calm down was to go to bed early and read...so fancy that. God works in interesting ways)
1 Corinthians 2: 1-5

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

1 Corinthians 3: 6-9
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

These verses spoke worlds! How easy is it to think that I can do anything with my own talent/power/wisdom. And what happens when you do that? You fail, and you get frustrated. God uses the things you think won't matter, like a silly web journal, or maybe its a kind word or two to a friend, almost anything you wouldnt think of yourself (as is usually the case) to move mountains. So...it's time to stop being frustrated. God will use me as and when He sees fit. In the mean time, all He asks is that I follow him and walk in His will so that when the time comes I will be ready. Another verse comes to mind that I heard Mrs Ramiah speak on in Isaiah 49.

Isaiah 49

1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from my birth he has made mention of my name.

2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.

3 He said to me, "You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

4 But I said, "I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand,
and my reward is with my God."

So here God shows you that from before you were born He knew what purpose He would use you for. But before He can use you, He must polish you which may be a painful process (because it requires the removal of ourselves, all that is our own and not given to God). While He's doing that, you may be hidden from the world. Because no commander of an army uses his prized weapon without careful planning and strategy. So maybe God's not ready to bust you out yet, but when He does...world watch out. Even when you think you've "labored in vain" you haven't. Because God sees all of your service for Him, great and small (there really is no small, all that displays God's splendor is big). So I stole all of this from Mrs Ramiah (thanks!) but I think it applys to everyone...so there you go. Call my mom if you want a copy of that talk (yeah thats my plug for Mrs Ramiah). God bless everyone. Bisous!