But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are.

– 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 (NAS)

God is no respecter of persons. We know this as it relates to God’s judgement and His love, but it also applies to who He uses to do His will.

God choose David to be king of Israel. David did not come from a royal line of descendants. He was a shepherd and the youngest of eight sons. He came from a small town, one of many small towns. But David had a heart for God and God used him to accomplish His will.

Don’t think that because you do not have any formal theological training, or you don’t come from a line of great preachers that God can’t use you in a great way. All that is required is a heart for God and a willingness to do His will. It doesn’t even matter where you’re from.

I live in a small town out in the middle of nowhere, but I don’t think this is a dead-end location. Many of the great men and women of God have come from small towns. Amy Carmichael, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, Charles Spurgeon, and Billy Graham all came from small towns and villages. Jesus even grew up in the small town of Nazareth (John 1:26). Considering the number of people who live in the cities, it seems God uses a disproportionate number of people from small towns to reach large numbers of people.

Why does God use “nobodies”? I think it is because they were willing to be used, and they prepared themselves beforehand with the expectation they would be used. They did not necessarily know what God had planned for them. (In some cases their ideas about how God would use them were completely different than how they were eventually used.) But they prepared themselves anyway. They did not study the scripture and pray just for the benefit of themselves but so that God could use them to help others. They also did what they knew God wanted them to do right where they were at the time. This is what you and I need to do.

Do you ever wonder what God has planned for your life? You may not know, but that does not matter if you are preparing yourself to be led by God. How do you do that? The answer is in Romans:

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

– Romans 12:1-2 (NAS)

We must become devoted to God’s service now. By living for God in the present and by the renewing of our minds now through meditation on the scripture and communion with God through prayer, God will prepare us for whatever He has planned in our future. Don’t expect to know God’s will or to be be used by Him in the future unless you prepare yourself to be used and do His will in the present.