When God Calls

1 Cor 1:26-29

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.”

So many times when God calls us to do something (and He calls all of us to something), the first thing we do is try to disqualify ourselves. Surely God can find someone more qualified to do what He is asking? There must be someone more gifted, more educated, more experienced out there. We can immediately think of many reasons why we’re not the right person for the job.

Just so you know this is not something new. If you take a stroll through the Old and New Testaments you will find person after person doing the same thing. Remember Moses? His excuses ranged from who am I that Pharaoh should listen to me to, I’m not good at talking to people. It’s part of being human to shrink from responsibility.

The thing we miss is that He doesn’t want us because of how awesome we are, He wants us because using us will bring glory to His name by showing off His power.  Sorry to break it to you but it ain’t about you. It ain’t about me either. I’m the laziest most undisciplined person I know. I am a total screw-up. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve failed or let Him down.

And yet, it pleases Him to use us. All He requires is our availability.

Isa 6:8

"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

As you can imagine, I greatly identify with another screw-ball in the Old Testament called David. When Samuel went looking for the next King of Israel he had Jesse parade out his sons. As strong and handsome as they all were they were not king material. He asked Jesse if he had any other sons and Jesse said that he did have one other son who was not very impressive. In fact, he was out in the fields taking care of the sheep. He was the runt of the litter. And yet, this was the one that Samuel chose to anoint. Later when Saul was looking for a champion to go and do battle with the giant Goliath it was this same puny and unimpressive David who went out to battle the giant. He went out with nothing but a slingshot because the King’s armor was too big on him. The only thing David had going for him was his unwavering faith in God.

That was all he needed. That is all anyone needs; faith in God and the heart to say, ‘here I am, send me’.

God will do the rest.

I’ve known several pastors fresh out of college or seminary who wanted to do great things for God. So many of them failed because they thought their education qualified them to do Kingdom work.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against a good education, it’s just that I’ve seen uneducated people accomplish great things for the Kingdom whose only qualification was going out in the power of the Holy Spirit. I would rather that young men do both, get an education and yield to God with all their heart. But, of the two, going into ministry out of obedience in the power of the Spirit is the only qualification that really counts. If God calls you to a ministry then by all means prepare yourself by getting a good education. Just don’t lean on your education more than you lean on God.

Yield to Him, be available to Him, obey Him and the rest then is up to Him.