Tuesday Reading: Romans 9:18-21
Key Verse: Romans 9:18
18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens.
Devotion:
Ours is not to wonder how we can change God’s will but rather to wonder how we can conform to His will. So often in our lives we jump forward in what we think are great leaps and bounds only to find out that we have leapt towards yet another precipice and not toward the safety that we assume we head toward. We like to think that we are the ones who can control our destiny rather than admitting that God has all the power to do His own will in our lives.
Being a Christian is not always about showing others how hard you are, or how much you can stand up against the evil, or how much we can lift ourselves up in times of adversity. Being a Christian is about listening to what God wants you to know and what He wants you to do. It’s not about what we think He should be telling others to do or about how much He can do in other people’s lives... it’s about what He can do in your relationship with Him. God is the one who is Loving but Just, Forgiving but Sincere, Gentle but Firm, Merciful but Stern. God is the one constant in our lives that has been and will always be. If we are going to try to buck against that one constant then we will find out the hard way that that constant will never change no matter what we do!
God works a very different work in each one of our lives and continues to light up our lives with all manner of blessings. We sometimes may think that He is not doing what we think He should but soon enough we will find out the real reason why He has allowed into our lives the things that He does. It is not for us to question Him every step of the way but rather to question our own steps to find out why we do not walk in the way He wants us to. We need to find out His will and follow that will in order to obtain all that He has laid out for each one of us. He wants to use us and the best way for that to happen is for us to submit to His will in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always get your own way?
Are you listening to God’s way?
