Romans 9: 15-18 Mercy on whom he chooses

Romans 9:15-18(NIV) For he says to Moses,"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Some of scripture bothers me. Of course it isn't for me to question, at least not morally, or what's "fair". But nevertheless, some of scripture bothers me. This is one passage that helps to clear some bothersome passages, sort of.

According to scripture, there are times when God hardens people's hearts, i.e. Pharaoh's heart was hardened repeatedly after the plagues. The Lord also hardened the hearts of those living in the promised land. (Joshua 20 ....For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses.)

It is hard for me to accept that sometimes God hardens hearts and that sometimes (Old Testament times) He wanted complete extermination of towns and cities. That is difficult to understand. It is hard to understand God's mercy and grace on some but not on others (or maybe we just can't see it). But the passage in the letter to the Romans tells me that Paul didn't try to understand it. He just accepted that God is God and will do as He chooses and that is good enough. God's will is God's will. Who are we to question that? Todd Agnew has a wonderful song that answers that question. It's called Where Were You. The clip is only a 30 second bit but you get the idea.

We can't possibly know God's ways. We can know what He allows us to know. I think He allows us to know enough to know Him and trust Him. I think He refuses to clutter our minds and experiences with knowledge and things that will distract us from Him. (Satan does plenty of distracting.) I think my relationship is important to Him so He fills me with experiences that will build that relationship. He will use you in my experiences for His purposes. He may harden hearts for His purposes.

He will reveal those things to us when we need them. Have you ever answered a question that you had no idea you knew the answer too? Maybe you didn't. Maybe God gave you the answer as it was flowing from your mouth. That is trusting God. That is allowing Him to work through and in you for His purposes. After all, it's not about you. It's about God and His relationship to you and the rest of His creation. When there are hard verses in the Bible, or challenging issues you are going through, remember that it is for God's purposes that things are allowed to happen. I don't believe that God makes bad things happen to get our attention. I do believe that when bad things happen, God will use that time to create or strengthen our relationship with Him.

Father, Help to accept that I can't understand everything. That some things are just none of my business. I want trust you completely. Thank you for your grace and mercy that You've showered upon me. I don't have words that adequately express my gratitude, and Your awesomeness. Amen.

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