Not Qualified, Still Called

If you have worked in an office or applied for any job, you know the selection process, the shortlisting, the interview. Before this there is a job description, the qualifications the employer expects, the skills you need to prove before you even walk in the door. We spend years building a resume that will make us look competent enough to be hired, worth the salary we are asking for.

God does not work that way.

When God chooses a servant, He is not looking at competence. If anything, He looks for the opposite — the incompetence, more than the competency. Look back at the history of His first chosen leader:

• He picked Moses, a shepherd hiding in Midian, the most reluctant man in the story — a man who gave God five different reasons not to go — and still made him stand before Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler on earth, to do miracles that would shake a nation.

• He did the same with the twelve disciples — Jesus chose fishermen with no training and no standing to carry His name.

Not because they were qualified for the job, but because He wanted the work to be unmistakably His, not theirs.

I have sat with this thought a long time: God does not call the self-sufficient. He calls the broken, so that when the work is done, nobody can point to the person and say "look what he did." They can only point up. Paul explains this thought clearly in 1 Corinthians 1:

[1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NIV]  27 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. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

This is the story of two callings — Moses and Aaron in the Old Covenant, and the twelve disciples in the New. Different centuries, but we have the same God, and we see the same pattern. And underneath both is a question none of us can dodge forever: what will you do, as His servant, with the calling He has already placed on you?

Old Covenant Commission — Moses and Aaron

1.     Made Like God to Pharaoh

[Exodus 7:1 NIV]  1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet."

God uses man to accomplish His work on earth. Here His servants are told, "I have made you like God to Pharaoh." A few things stand out:

• We often forget the power we carry as God’s representatives — we hesitate, shrink back, and retreat when facing the enemy.

• So many callings remain unfulfilled not because God did not call, but because the servant forgot who commissioned him.

• The word used for "God" here is Elohim — Moses was not being made divine, he was being given delegated authority before the enemy. The same word appears in Psalm 82, addressed to human judges who carry God’s authority on earth: [Psalm 82:6 NIV]  6 I said, "You are ‘gods’; you are all sons of the Most High."

• Jesus Himself quotes this verse when charged with blasphemy: [John 10:34-35 NIV]  34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came — and Scripture cannot be set aside —"

When God positions a servant before an enemy as His representative, He arms that servant with His own authority.Moses standing before Pharaoh was not Moses standing alone — it was God’s authority walking into Pharaoh’s presence through a human vessel. He does not always announce your position by voice. He arms you with the Holy Spirit and places you in position — the authority is already in your hands.

2.     Called After Every Excuse

When you read Exodus and by the time you come to Exodus 7, God had already overruled five separate objections from Moses:

• "Who am I to go?" — Exodus 3:11

• "What shall I tell them your name is?" — Exodus 3:13

• "What if they do not believe me?" — Exodus 4:1

• "I am slow of speech and tongue." — Exodus 4:10

• "Please send someone else." — Exodus 4:13

God overruled every excuse. The servant He chose was not a confident man — he was a fugitive shepherd who stuttered, who doubted, and who begged to be replaced.

By the time Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh, they were not young or capable by any worldly measure: Moses was eighty years old. Aaron was eighty-three. Every visible sign of human capability had already faded from them. This was not incidental — God chose that moment deliberately, so that no human strength could claim the glory for what was about to happen.

I think about that whenever I tell myself I am too old, too tired, too late to be useful to God, these are fleshly excuses not to do his calling. He did not wait for Moses to be at his best. He waited until Moses had nothing left to boast about — and then He sent him.

3.     God Tells Him What Is Coming — and How He Communicates

[Exodus 7:2-5 NIV]  2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.

• God told Moses in advance that Pharaoh would not listen. This was not a shock or a setback — it was the plan.

• A true servant of God is not surprised by opposition — he continues not because circumstances are favourable, but because the God who warned him is still on the throne.

• Aaron the Voice — Exodus 7:1 establishes a precise chain:

• God speaks to Moses → Moses carries the word to Aaron → Aaron speaks it before Pharaoh.

• God declares. The servant receives. The voice delivers — Aaron spoke only what Moses commanded, nothing from himself.

• Moses — a picture of Christ, the one Mediator who stood before the hostile powers of this world on behalf of the Father: [1 Timothy 2:5 NIV]  5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.

• Aaron — beside him as High Priest, pointing to Christ as our High Priest who intercedes for us: [Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV]  16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

• This is the same pattern given to us in the Holy Spirit: [John 16:13-14 NIV]  13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

4.     The Staff in a Weak Hand

[Exodus 7:8-9 NIV]  8 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 "When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake."

A staff, for a shepherd, was never complicated.

It carried three purposes:

• A tool for shepherding — to pull a sheep back when it wanders, to protect the flock from something wild: [Psalm 23:4 NIV]  4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

• Support for the old and weak — Moses was eighty, Aaron was eighty-three; the staff was their physical support, the way God Himself is the support of those who can no longer stand on their own strength.

• A symbol of authority — when God said "take your staff," He was not talking about a piece of wood. He was talking about the authority He had already placed in Moses’ hand long before Pharaoh ever saw it.

• Look at everything the staff accomplished — the same staff split the Red Sea so Israel could cross on dry ground (Exodus 14:16), brought water out of the rock when the people were dying of thirst in the wilderness (Exodus 17:5-6), and was held up over the battle to defeat the Amalekites (Exodus 17:11-12). One piece of wood, used again and again wherever God's people needed Him most.

We do not carry a physical staff today. We carry a name. [1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV]  57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we speak in that name, the enemy is the one who should be shaking, not us.

5.     Spirit of Obedience

Through all of it, Moses and Aaron did one thing that made the whole work align with the will of God — they obeyed exactly as commanded: [Exodus 7:6 NIV]  6 Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.

• Obedience like this is a soldier’s obedience. A soldier does not add to or subtract from the order. He does not negotiate. He does not wait for a feeling. He hears the command and moves.

• Jesus lived out that same obedience perfectly: [John 8:28 NIV]  28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me."

• If Jesus, the Son of God, did nothing on His own, I do not know why I keep thinking my own opinion needs to be added to what He has already told me to do. Very often, we fail for this very reason in His work.

New Covenant Commission — The Twelve

1.     Compassion Before Commission

[Matthew 9:35-36 NIV]  35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

• Jesus never asked us to do anything He had not already done Himself. He saw ordinary, harassed people and felt the same thing God felt watching Israel suffer under slavery in Egypt: [Exodus 3:7 NIV]  7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering."

• It is the same God with the same compassion. His eyes see the situation differently than we do, because every soul is precious to Him: [Matthew 10:29-30 NIV]  29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

If He cares for the sparrow, how much more the soul.

2.     Ask the Lord of the Harvest

[Matthew 9:37-38 NIV]  37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

• When God sees the world from heaven, He knows the harvest is abundant, and He knows the workers are few. It is His harvest field, not ours. He owns it, He manages it, and He decides who goes where — our part is to ask, and to be willing to be sent.

3.     Sent With Authority

[Matthew 10:1 NIV]  1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Who Is a Disciple? A disciple is simply a learner — one who follows a teacher and absorbs his way of life. We are His followers who follow the way of Jesus, so we are His disciples as well. Jesus selected twelve and gave them something they had not earned:

That authority covered four works:

• Cast out demons — drive out impure spirits

• Heal disease — biological affliction

• Heal sickness — personal and social suffering

• Raise the dead

Nobody handed them a diploma first. Jesus gave the authority, then sent them out to use it. We who have been saved are not saved merely for ourselves — we are saved to be sent: [Romans 5:10-11 NIV]  10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. We were the enemies. We have been reconciled. Now we are sent to others still in the same darkness we were rescued from.

4.     Go, Proclaim, Give Freely

Their instructions were simple and costly at the same time:

• Go to the lost — [Matthew 10:5-6 NIV]  6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. Their instruction was Israel first; ours today is all the world.

• Proclaim the good news — [Matthew 10:7 NIV]  7 As you go, proclaim this message: "The kingdom of heaven has come near."

• Give freely — [Matthew 10:8 NIV]  8 Freely you have received; freely give. What God has given us costs us nothing to pass on.

5.     Spirit of Obedience — The Twelve

[Mark 6:12-13 NIV] 12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

• The twelve did not obey selectively. Jesus commissioned them to drive out demons, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead — and they carried out every part of it, not just the parts that felt comfortable.

• Obedience comes in implicit, Obedience like this does not wait to understand the reason first. Moses obeyed a command he could not fully explain to Pharaoh. The twelve obeyed a command that made no earthly sense — untrained men, told to heal the sick and raise the dead. In both cases, the instruction came before the understanding.

One Sender, One Commission

The Old Covenant commission in Exodus 7 and the New Covenant commission in Matthew 10 are not two separate stories — they are the same story, told at two different points in redemptive history.

• The staff has become the name of Jesus.

• The word to one ruler has become the gospel to all nations.

• The territory has expanded, but the principle is identical: God sends human vessels carrying His authority into hostile territory.

And He does not send us unequipped: [John 14:26 NIV]  26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. The Holy Spirit is the Advocate — the one who stands alongside and fights on our behalf. This is the same role the staff played in Moses’ hand: the visible sign of an invisible authority, now made living and permanent in us.

One thing we must not forget — the calling sends us into the wolf pack, not into comfortable territory:

• Not safety, but presence. [Matthew 10:16 NIV]  16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

• The battle is not ours to fight — we are the instruments through which He fights. [2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV]  7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

We are jars of clay. He is the treasure inside us. Moses did not fight Pharaoh — God fought through Moses. The twelve did not drive out demons by their own power — Jesus worked through them. And we do not face the hostile world on our own strength either.

What Will You Do for Him?

We live in the last days, as we are seeing the signs of Jesus’ return.

Remember we are all given the Great Commission to fulfil: [Matthew 28:18-20 NIV] 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

You and I are called to fulfil His Great Commission [Matthew 28:18-20 NIV]. But keep finding not to fulfil this commission, the same way Moses did — I have work to do, I have a family to take care of, there is not enough time, I am not a minister, I don’t have bible knowledge, I will offend others if I speak about Jesus. These are Satan’s tricks to keep us from fulfilling the Great Commission. Some of these situations may even be real, but that is not a reason to stop serving Him. We will never find a perfect time to do His work in Earth, there will be one reason or another not to do. Our last breath will take us to the judgment seat to answer for those reasons, and by then it will be too late. He will ask us what we did for Him in all the years we were given in this world.

When Jesus comes and we stand before His judgment seat, the question we will be asked will not be about the job we held or the title we carried. It will be simpler than that: what did you do for me?

We cannot answer that with "I was called to work" and stop there. Yes, we are called to work in this world — but every one of us, whatever work we do, is also called to serve Him as a servant. This is not a question of full-time ministry or part-time ministry. This question is about whether you will serve Him in some capacity. It is His calling that decides whether you serve Him full time or part time.

Do not let your own sense of being unqualified become another excuse, the way it was for Moses five times over. Step up in faith, and He will act. Yes, the struggles are real — they were real for Moses too. But it is His work to fight. We are called to walk in His great commission and do His work, and He will take care of the rest of our lives.

[1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NIV]  27 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. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

We are also given the same power and authority as Moses and the twelve disciples, through the Great Commission [Matthew 28:18-20 NIV]:

• All authority has been given to Jesus — in heaven and on earth (v.18), its given to us as his son’s and daughters, his disciples – one who obeys his word.

• Go — step out, do not stay where you are (v.19).

• Make disciples of all nations — not converts, but disciples who follow His way (v.19).

• Baptize them — in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (v.19).

• Teach them to obey everything He commanded — not just to know it (v.20).

• Remember His promise — "I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (v.20).

You were never the one who had to be qualified. You were only ever the one who had to be willing.