For the last two decades of his long life-he lived to be 89-Michelangelo was the chief architect for the Vatican. As suc, he was responsible for the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, which would become the largest and most famous church in the world.
The thing is, Michelangelo was not an architect. He is most well known for his painting of the Sistine Chapel, but he did not consider himself a painter either. He always considered himself a sculptor. Yet, in 1546, when Michelangelo was 71 years old, Pope Paul III asked Michelangelo to be chief architect over the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica, and Michelangelo accepted.
Michelangelo is now famous for redesigning the dome of of Saint Peter’s Basilica, making sure it was structurally secure, and ultimately ensuring the basilica would be completed according to his plans, even though it would take nearly 60 years after his death to complete Saint Peter’s.
Michelangelo’s life is instructive. The Lord often calls us to tasks in which we do not feel qualified or in which we are certain others are more qualified, but we are available. Fortunately, when it comes to being used by God, being available is often more important than being qualified.
I went to college and obtained a liberal arts degree with a major in political science and a minor in writing. I then went to law school and became a lawyer. I had been a lawyer 19 years when I found myself pastoring a church.
I was not qualified in any formal sense. I had never been to seminary or received any formal training. But I was smart enough to know what I didn’t know, and I was willing to learn and lean heavily on the Lord for a year until we could find a real pastor.
That church, which we rebranded and relaunched in a movie theater 15 years ago with 30 people, is now a growing, thriving church of 600 that owns its own building. I was not qualified, maybe not even the most qualified of the unqualified, but I made myself available even though I had a full time job running my own law firm, and the Lord used me, successfully even.
There is good reason for why being available often trumps being qualified. While God sometimes alters the natural workings of the universe by making the sun stand still (Joshua 10:12-14), His default is to work within the orderly restraints of the natural work He created.
That means if I am in one place at a certain time, I can’t be somewhere else at the same time. Thus, even with all the complexity God can manage in His sovereignty, there will be times when something needs to be done and the most qualified person is either not present or not willing act, and God looks down His bench to give another the nod. Those who answer the call with, “Here am I. Send me!”, have the opportunity to become great in the kingdom of God.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:8 (NASB)
Michelangelo made himself available for God to paint the Sistine Chapel even though he considered himself a sculptor. The same sculptor made himself available for God in the last 18 years of his life to function as the architect for Saint Peter’s Basilica. Both the Sistine Chapel and the dome of Saint Peter’s are now considered some of the most iconic works in history of the world, and they were both done by one who may not have been the most qualified but who answered the call as one who was available. GS