Why is Paul an exception to the way God usually chooses His servants?
Paul is an exception because he was highly educated, polished, and moved in the upper echelons of Judaism, whereas God usually does not call many wise, mighty, or noble. Scripture shows God typically uses common, ordinary people like Amos, Gideon, and Ezekiel, so Paul constantly humbles himself as nothing.
Les explains that in I Corinthians 1:26, not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God does not usually go into the kings and queens of the world or the ivy-covered halls of universities for His servants; He never has. In the Old Testament, men like Amos, Gideon, and Ezekiel were just common, ordinary members of the Jewish nation, but that is what God saw fit to use. Paul is really an exception because he was highly educated and no doubt had a lot of polish, since he moved in the upper echelons of Judaism. Yet Paul constantly puts himself down as nothing, realizing that God cannot use somebody unless they are nothing. Moses is the prime example: after his first forty years in Pharaoh's palace as the second top man in Egypt, he thought he could take the children of Israel out of slavery by his own power, pomp, circumstance, wisdom, and leadership.