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Resting in the Work of God

Sam Stringer

Aug 8, 2024

For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him
who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very
purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be
declared in all the earth." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He
hardens.
Romans 9:15-18

Rather than be witty today, I’m just going to jump into this devotional in thinking about following Jesus
and the deep role God plays in the outcomes of our service. I’m sure there could be disagreements, but I
just hope you’ll consider some things here that could help you with seeing God work in those places
you’re serving Him.

Serving God is, on our part, all about faithfulness. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover it is required
in stewards that one be found faithful.” The word for faithfulness refers to being trustworthy or
dependable, being responsible with something committed to us. We cannot save anyone. We cannot
connect dots for anyone, though we can do our best to teach them. We cannot cause change. We can
only be faithful with the Word, be bold with it, profess it and teach it as God gives opportunity. Be faithful.

Romans 9:15-18 gives us a teaching both on mercy and hardening. If you’ll allow me, let’s consider
these two words. Mercy, similar to grace, is the act of withholding what someone deserves. (Grace is the
act of giving someone what they have not deserved). Mercy is pushing an unsuspecting person out of
the way of an oncoming car. Mercy might be considered the rescuing from Hell; we deserve it but we are
not given that destiny in salvation. Grace, therefore, would be the offer not simply of pardon, but of life as
a child of God in Heaven. It’s probably an oversimplification, but mercy is the removal of the
consequences and grace is the giving of the above and beyond.

Secondly, hardening. The word skleruno in the Greek refers to causing someone to be unyielding in
resisting information (BDAG Lexicon, Bibleworks). That’s a rough term to many folks, because it very
well seems from the text that God has made people reject Him by desiring them to sin against Him.
Perhaps you might consider, though, that hardening is not taking someone good and making them
wretched, but taking someone internally wretched and both allowing things that will ratchet that up while
also not getting in their way (not stopping an individual from the oncoming truck). The end result is a
greater defiance stemming from an already existent sin nature. God is not the Author of sin, so when
God does things like He does with Pharaoh to harden him, God is drawing upon Pharaoh’s preexistent
idols of the heart as well as not stopping him from where his sin is taking him. God shows mercy and
relents many times in Exodus during the plagues, and Pharaoh only turns around to demand more and to
refuse the release of the Jewish nation. Where there should be remorse and humility, all that is found is
further rejection and greater obstinance. Despite such hardness, it still plays into God’s greater plans of
removing His people from a harsh slave master as they follow Him in the wilderness to the Promised
Land (this is all a picture of salvation, too).

The mercy of God is not dependent upon “him who wills, nor of him who runs.” These are not earned by
people’s merit or sacrifice. No, it is “of God who shows mercy.” Why is God both merciful and gracious as
He wills? God is merciful and gracious because God is merciful and gracious. Hopefully you caught that:
God’s willingness to love and forgive is indicative not of the merits of mankind but rather, the goodness of
Who He is! The Gospel is a magnifying glass of the wonderful character of God. He evidences these
traits, according to this text, both in His mercy and in His hardening! Nothing can stop God from showing
Who He is and glorifying Himself for it.

Now where is the bravery for your service and walk meant to come in? You and I are reliant upon the
Sovereign God of the universe. We are called to be faithful but we must also foster reliance upon Him to
show His mercy. He is right to show mercy and He is right to harden whomever He wills. We may buck at
that statement, but we just saw it in Scripture. “He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He
hardens.” Our job is not to figure out the “whom He wills,” but to recognize that the foundation of God’s
grace and mercy rest not on our merits, but on the ever-needed grace of God. You may see people
respond well to the offer of God’s love and forgiveness, and you may see them harden up all the more
with every offer and act of kindness. You cannot control that but you can control being a submissive
servant of God and obeying as the Spirit leads. Be blessed, and be brave in Christ today.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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