Called by God: A Daily Devotional (Amos 7:14-15)

Maybe you have thought it too. I am not qualified. I am not trained. I am just an ordinary person with an ordinary job. Surely God uses other people, special people, for anything that matters.

Amos would gently disagree. When challenged about his authority, he did not point to a diploma or a title. He simply said, I was a shepherd, but God took me and sent me. He was called by God, and that was enough.

This devotional is for every ordinary person who has felt too small. Because when you are called by God, your background does not disqualify you. His call qualifies you.

Called by God: Key Takeaway

• God chooses and equips ordinary people; His call, not your résumé, qualifies you.

Verse of the Day

Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: ‘I was no prophet, Nor was I a son of a prophet, But I was a sheepbreeder And a tender of sycamore fruit. Then the Lord took me as I followed the flock, And the Lord said to me, “Go, prophesy to My people Israel.”‘

— Amos 7:14-15 (NKJV)

Amaziah had challenged Amos, essentially asking, who are you to speak for God? Amos’s answer is beautifully honest and humble.

He admits he had no prophetic pedigree. He was not trained in any prophet’s school; he was a shepherd and a tender of sycamore fruit, an ordinary working man. By worldly standards, he was completely unqualified.

But then he says the words that changed everything: the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said, go. Amos’s authority did not come from a title or training. He was simply an ordinary man called by God who said yes when God said go.

Key Explanations

• I was no prophet: Amos had no religious title, training, or pedigree to lean on.

• A sheepbreeder and tender of fruit: he was an ordinary working man, not a professional minister.

• The Lord took me: his calling came entirely from God, not from human credentials or status.

• Go, prophesy: God’s call carries God’s authority; obedience matters more than qualifications.

Called by God: A Reflection

If you have ever felt too ordinary to be used by God, Amos is your reminder that being called by God has nothing to do with your résumé.

The Gospel fact is, God delights in taking unlikely people and doing remarkable things through them.

Look at Gideon. When the angel of the Lord found him, Gideon was hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat in fear of his enemies. Yet the angel greeted him as a mighty man of valor.

Gideon protested, my clan is the weakest, and I am the least in my father’s house. But God’s answer was simple: surely I will be with you.

God did not choose Gideon because he was strong, rather He chose him and then made him strong. That is how the calling of God works. When you are called by God, He supplies what you lack.

The apostle Paul explained why. First Corinthians 1:27 says God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things to shame the mighty.

God often picks the unlikely on purpose, so that the glory clearly belongs to Him.

So stop disqualifying yourself. The One who calls you is faithful to equip you. You are a chosen and called child of God, created for good works He prepared in advance.

Whatever He is calling you to, say yes. Because when you are called by God, your yes matters far more than your qualifications.

Blessings…!

Do This Today

• Stop disqualifying yourself; identify one thing you sense God nudging you toward, and take one small step of obedience today.

Your Affirmation for Today

• I am called by God, and His call qualifies me; He equips what He assigns, so I say yes with confidence.

Prayer Point for Today

• Say Yes: ask God to show you where He is calling you, and for the faith to obey despite feeling unqualified.

Let’s pray

Our Father, thank You for calling ordinary people like me. Silence the voice that says I am not enough, equip me for what You assign, and give me courage to say yes and go.

In the precious and mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

My prayer for you today: I pray that you stop disqualifying yourself, that you hear God’s call clearly, and that you find courage to say yes, knowing He will equip you.