God’s Mercy!

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 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.

Romans 9:14-18

There are some scriptures that are hard to understand. Romans 9:16 is certainly one of those. “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” What I am before the Lord is not because of my desire or effort, it is rather because of His mercy! That is truly hard to understand, but perhaps it is important that we try.

When there is a dynasty in any arena, be it political, sport related, or even a long line of lawyers in a family there is the same dynamic that Paul is talking about in Romans. Success can be directly related to who you are rather than what you do or desire to do. If you have the right name you can be elected to a public office in certain parts of the country. If your father was a famous football player you will grow up with that prospect alive and well in your own life. The reason I do not live in the slums of Mexico City is because of where I was born, not because of what I have done in my life.

As a child of God and follower of Jesus, His mercy extended toward me is great. He keeps pulling me back on to the straight and narrow road. He sends gentle and sometimes not so gentle rebukes to keep me walking in His way. He uses other believers and even men or women completely sold out to Satan to deal with me in ways where I have been rebellious toward Him.

If you sense the Mercy of God in your life rejoice and receive this warning. If God Almighty is showing you His Mercy He will also meet out His correction on you as a loving Father. You can trust Him to do that for your own good. You can also trust that when God disciplines His children it is a whipping you will wish you had never gotten!