Below is a recent devotional from Greg Laurie. http://www.harvest.org/
I have written a commentary after.

Not Ability, but Availability

“I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.”

—Isaiah 42:8

What kind of person does God seek to use? What qualifications is He looking for in someone? Is it a towering intellect? Is it natural leadership ability? Could God ever use someone who is a bit shy by nature? Does this person have to be very talented or handsome or beautiful?

The answer to all of these questions is clearly no. It seems as though God goes out of His way sometimes to choose the most unexpected people to use.

If I had to choose one passage of Scripture that I think best summarizes my life as a Christian, it would be 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, where the apostle Paul wrote,

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

There is not a person who had less promise to achieve anything with his life than me. I was literally the last person picked for the team for whatever sport it was. I never was academically strong. I always underwhelmed in most areas of my life. So when the Lord chose me to serve Him, it was very clear that it was His doing—not mine. This is because God will not give His glory to another. As I have said before, God is not looking for ability as much as availability. Are you available to Him?

Moses pleading with the Children of Israel, lithography from a Bible card published in 1907

I can really identify with this, I was that kid that no one wanted; you know, the one that was always last in line, the one that no one wanted on their team, the one that everyone picked on. That was tough, very tough.

I grew up being told I was good for nothing, that I would never amount to anything. I heard things such as “can’t you ever do anything right?” Why can’t you ever do anything right the first time?”. I was made to feel worthless and stupid, certainly not worth the bother of anyone investing their time in me. I would point out here that the person doing this was my Dad, not Mom…she tried and was a good Mom.

It naturally follows that a person, (in this case me) would begin to believe what they are told. Words have tremendous power, negative words tend to have the most power. Why is that do you think?

I went on to live a not so good life; trouble with the law, drinking, some drug use, failed marriages etc.
Then Jesus got a hold of me. Why on earth would the Lord of all choose a worthless loser like me to become one of His? Maybe I was not so worthless after all. Maybe God in His infinite wisdom sees worth not visible to me (us)?

Never assume that you cannot be used of God because of who and what you are, or were. Don’t ever make the mistake of assuming that someone else is not ever going to be able to serve the Lord either. Many strong Believers of today have some pretty checkered pasts, I am one of them…and so is Greg Laurie. That is not to say that I have it all together as a Believer, I don’t.

God has chosen me as one of His despite who I was. God chose others like me as well; in that they were not the cream of the crop. You would know them as the Apostles, or Moses, or Jonah…or a bunch of others as well.

God uses the foolish things, and the not so good things. The first will be last, and the last first. If God is speaking to your heart, answer Him today…say yes!

Need help in getting to know Jesus? Click this link for help that could change your life; http://peacewithgod.jesus.net/