God's Choice!

Romans 9

 ¹⁴ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses,

   “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
   and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”^[f]

 ¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ¹⁷ For 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.”^[g] 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

When bad things happen it is so easy to blame God. We can even get mad at him. But, if you look at things realistically. What do we deserve? Does God OWE us anything at all? What have we done for him compared to what he has done for us?

These verses say it all. God has every right to have compassion on those he wants to have compassion. It's God's choice. There is nothing we can do. His mercy and grace are his own. We don't have to worry about measuring up to some standard because the standard is to high. God doesn't have to, but he DOES show us mercy and grace. 

So many people don't choose to follow Christ because they are TOO BAD. Some view God as some Dictator who is smiling as he judges and punishes us. There is nothing further from the truth. We are all TOO BAD. God doesn't measure sin like we do. He doesn't sentence one sin for life and the other sin to death. All sin leads to death and we are all guilty of sin. When we ask God to forgive us and open our heart to him, all of our sin, no matter how big or how bad, is gone. The death sentence is gone with it and we are then given life eternal.  Our sins pain God. He feels our pain. He felt all the pain of our sin when he sent his son to die on the cross. He wiped it out with the most compassionate thing he could do. He sacrificed his own son for us when we didn't deserve it. 

I love knowing that my God is a God of compassion. I love knowing my God is the God of grace and mercy. Thank You Lord. I know I deserve so much worse!