Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-25
Paul wasn't a good candidate to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. In the first place, Paul was a devout Jew who had no use for Gentiles. On top of that, Paul wasn't a great speaker and didn't have a charismatic presence that would draw people. Paul didn't have an impressive occupation (he was a tent maker), but he did have a lot of zeal. Unfortunately, he used that zeal to oppose Jesus Christ and the spread of the Gospel. Despite all of this, Paul was the person God called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. Or, was it because of all this?
The Lord does not call people using the standards that we use in the world. If He did, Peter, Andrew, James, and John would have never been called. None of these men had the qualifications to speak publicly, lead a rapidly growing organization, guide people through fierce opposition, defend teachings against detractors, etc. They lacked nearly all of the qualities and qualifications of leadership as we understand it. They didn't provide a corporate vision, couldn't develop a strategic plan, and didn't even have a clear idea of what it meant to be “fishers of men.” But when Jesus called them they realized that they had been called.
God calls people who aren't qualified for the calls that they receive. As someone once put it, “God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” This is important because each and every one of us has been called. While not as dramatic as Paul being called while on the road to Damascus and probably not as sudden and urgent as Jesus calling the Galilean fishermen, your call is just as real and just as significant. You have been called to serve in Christ’s name just as Paul, Simon, Andrew, James, and John were called to serve. The time, timing, place, circumstances, and work are different, but you have been called.God has called you to labor in His Kingdom as a steward-servant. He has called you to put everything that He has entrusted to you to work for His glory. He has called you to make disciples, proclaim the Gospel, and to be a fisher of men through the various vocations (literally, “callings”) in your life. In and through your vocations, God has qualified you with training, education, experience, relationships, finances, and other resources to faithfully do the specific work that He has given you to do. You may feel inadequate. You may think that you are unqualified. And you may be right. But it doesn't matter because you have been called.
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