#ThrowbackThursday — This post originally published December 6, 2016.
Sometimes no matter how much I plead with God to transform the life of a person with Christ, it seems nothing changes. The struggles remain and I feel helpless to show the way to Christ. I feel helpless to bring about any change and it feels like my prayers fall on deaf ears.
At times like this I am caught in the tension between God’s sovereignty and the free will of people to reject or embrace Christ. Romans 9:18 tells us, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden (NIV).” Within this tension I am forced to trust God’s sovereignty; forced to deepen my pursuit of Christ; forced to let the tension hold me close to God.
I must trust that God has a purpose for delineating between mercy and wrath and that only he is qualified to judge between the two. I must admit I am severely unqualified to judge why some graciously receive Christ and others reject him.
The only answer to this tension is to continue to liberally apply the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to all people who God places in our life. We must continue to trust God to handle the response people give to the message of salvation.
© 2016 CGThelen
140 Character Christian 
Wonderful truths. I have always been amazed as to how he does this throughout scripture proving his power like he did here with Pharaoh. Wondering too if the anger and frustration we can feel sometimes is our temporarily hardening to open our eyes to his power and glory to set us back on the right track. Thanks for your ways of digging that can help us rethink in our own paths to get closer to Christ.
It seems God works in ways we don’t alway expect him to, yet they are always better. Thanks for the comment.
Excellent post! I pray to grow in grace and knowledge when it comes to Divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Life is full of tension and the more I learn to navigate life’s tensions the more in tune I will be with our Triune God. Blessings, Mandy
Thanks, Mandy. So true that navigating life’s tensions puts me more in tune with God. Blessings.