ONE evening this week I spent an hour hearing about all the various routes from school to university or college or into the world of work and what would be required to get there.

It took me back to when my own sons were in the upper years of school working out what college or university they were thinking of, and what courses they might take, depending on the results of their exams. And their ability, plus hard work, would determine what was possible.

I reckon many of us go through life worrying about our ability to do this or that. Maybe it’s about our job and how well we perform there, or about being a good husband or wife, or about the sport we enjoy and work at.

God has a different idea. He didn’t go looking for people, highly intelligent, to become his disciples. Even way back in the Bible when Samuel went about looking for a new king, it was a young shepherd boy called David that God was looking for.

God doesn’t need experienced and highly trained people to speak and act for Him. He doesn’t need that level of intelligence, clever though they may be, to speak of Jesus on the streets. He often chose those who others considered foolish in the world to confound the wise.

He doesn’t look on how educated we are, what profession we are in when He wants people to speak of Jesus. He doesn’t look on who we are but into our hearts to find men and women, young and older, who will be available and then He pours His love and His power into them to go into the world and tell about who Jesus is and what He can do in a person’s life. He gives them the words to speak and a heart of compassion and miracles so often follow where they go.

It's not about our ability, but about our availability that matters. He will mould us into His warriors, His faithful servants who become His friends, to speak of Him and convince others of who He is.

And He is looking at this time to find young and older people in Inverclyde and beyond who will give up their own ambitions to speak of Him. Is that you? Is it me? We don’t need to be clever, just to open our hearts to all He would do with us and in us.