Valiantly done through God

I wake up at 5:10 to get ready for my day (which was easier for the first five days since I was still experiencing jet lag... a little harder now), then at 6:45 the School of Promise come to pick me up - the first stop of the morning.  An hour later, a bus full of students arrives at the school, and we pile out.
Immediately we go into the work room and have a short time of worship and prayer to prepare for the day. This is one of my favorite times where the Thai teachers sing the songs in Thai and the English teachers sing in English - a wonderful reminder of the many nations that come together under the Lord.
I've been helping out with different things around the school and it has been such a blessing to work with the different teachers and volunteers.

Psalm 60:12, "Through God we will do valiantly... "

A whole week, and it has been more of a sacrifice of service than going out and verbally declaring God's word.  Still, I had been discouraged thinking that I wasn't being effective, and I felt that my devotional time was lacking - leading me (as always) to cry out in prayer and petition to the Lord who is immensely faithful despite my faithlessness.

When going to spread the word of God, we don't go in to place down our own values, but rather we work to develop relationships and work to show that we genuinely care for the people. Also, I have to trust that it is God who does all the work in transforming the lives, I can only live for the gospel, but He will change the hearts.  1 Thessalonians 2:13 reminds me of this, that it is the Lord who effectively works in believers, changing my words of mear human wisdom, to words of the Lord - the Word of God that transforms lives.  This is what the Lord has recently been really placing on my heart and what I wanted to get the heart of.  Knowing this, I must continually constrain to live for the Lord and I daily have been asking God to go before me, preparing the hearts of those I meet and talk with that their hearts may be readied for His life changing power.  I think about the parable of the Soils in Mark 4:20 where receptive hearts are good soil, and we thank God for good soil because He has made it as such - it is He who prepares the hearts to hear. I thank God for the lesson He has been unfolding in regards to this for me, because I cannot think myself "ineffective" for it is only the Lord who is effective, and all I must do is be prepared for Him to use me as He will.