Mercy

DEVOTION
ROMANS

MERCY
Rom 9:14-15

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." NIV

How can I ever think that my Lord would be unjust? Yet how do I deal with this idea of Him having mercy on one and not on another. This is not what He has said at all. He has only said He will have mercy on who He wants and He will have compassion on who He wants. Does this imply He leaves some out? And this next section of scripture, I cannot deal in my heart with this statement without the rest.
Rom 9:16-18
16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 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." 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. NIV
This was, I believe a very special case in the sense that because of the great position of Pharaoh, it provided God with an immense stage to demonstrate His power and might. I also believe Pharaoh was like no other unbeliever, with a heart hardened against the Lord God. I also believe, because of the stage, God simply did not move upon the heart of Pharaoh with mercy and compassion, but allowed him to continue in his hardened state in order to show the world of that time, and this time His great power. It is not about man, but about God. It is inconsistent with the love of God for His creation that He would cause anyone to be the wrath of His justice. Much as with it was Lucifer’s choice, it was Pharaoh’s choice, he could have repented, and if so, I believe God’s power and might would have been displayed in yet another manner, but without repentance man remains in a hardened state of sin.