"He giveth power to the faint, and to those that have no might ...He increaseth strength " (Isa 40:29). When God calls a person to become a leader. He doesn't choose him on the basis of how clever, talented or educated he may be. In fact, these are things which God may have to modify (or sometimes destroy) before He can use us. The Bible says, " I will destroy the wisdom of the "wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent" (ICor 1:19). The Apostle Paul says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. "But God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And... things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are ' ' (ICor 1:25-28). This is what the Apostle Paul is teaching us: Through our weakness, our faltering, our failings, God reveals His wisdom. Through our helplessness, God displays His power. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still [defeat/silence] the enemy and the avenger" (Ps 8:2). God uses the weak to destroy His enemies. That means He can use you and me.

THE PEOPLE GOD CHOOSES
I am often astonished by the people God chooses to do particular jobs. 1. Paul For example. He sent Paul to the uncultured pagan Gentiles. Paul had studied the Scriptures under Gamaliel (who was a great master teacher of the Pharisees). As a candidate for the Sanhedrin (a prestigious Jewish men's group who interpreted the religious laws in Israel) Paul had to memorize and quote (without error) the first five books of the Old Testament (called the Pentateuch).

He was a Jew of notable background and achievement. From a human viewpoint, no one could have been more suited to the task of evangelizing Jews than Paul. But to whom did God send Paul to minister? Not to the cultured Jews but to the ignorant and outcast peoples called Gentiles. The Gentiles had little appreciation for Paul's great learning and his mastery of Jewish law. All of Paul's natural strength, all his education, cleverness and talent had to be set aside. God had to strip it all away by taking him to the desert of Arabia (like his forefather Moses) and there divest him of all those things he could have boasted in (see Galatians 1:17; Philippians 3:4-8). In that "...howling waste wilderness, that land of deserts, pits, drought, and the shadow of death where no man traveled or lived... " (Jer 2:6), Paul learned his success as a minister of Christ would only be through laying down "all that was gain— to count it loss — to gain Christ" (see Philippians 3:7,8). He learned to proclaim the gospel "...not enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (ICor 2:4).

To convince people that Jesus was their Savior, Paul counted more on the Spirit working miracles through him than he did on his ability as an orator or preacher (ICor 10:4;2 CorlO:10).We should do the same. 2. Peter Though Peter opened the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 10), he remained in Jerusalem among the most elite Jews of the Roman empire as "the apostle to the Jews "(see Galatians 2:8). What qualified Peter for this task? Certainly not great academic achievement or education. The Bible describes him as "... unlearned and ignorant" (Acts 4:13). He was but a simple fisherman, yet God qualified him for the job by the power of the Holy Spirit.