“What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory . . . ?”

Good question.  It’s one that Paul asks in Romans 9:23.

It is really a question offered as an answer.  Jesus was a Master at this.  Sometimes our questions about God deserve bigger and better questions rather than smaller answers.  To provide an answer simply because we feel that God cannot survive people’s scrutiny . . . unless we can actually and adequately explain Him . . . is actually to trivialize a person’s query and ultimately to disrespect them.

I sat in our living room last evening and heard some of my son’s deep, honest questions about God and faith.  My natural human reflex was to give him an answer.

I resisted.

An answer would simply stop his search and I think that spiritual growth and development is always in the search.

What does the Bible say . . . “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:13  Listen . . . truly seeking God, leads to God . . . I have this belief that God will not allow that search to end differently regardless of what it looks like at the moment.

It’s like the baby bird who needs to break free from the shell unassisted.  In the struggle to break free, there is strength that comes to sustain life, without it, the creature is weakened and in peril.

You won’t like Romans 9.  It has to do with God hardening some people’s hearts.  Does He actually do that?  Does He actually create certain people for destruction?  Does He remain inactive when evil prevails through these people because there is a greater purpose to be served?

These questions cannot be answered with certainty to the satisfaction of human reason.  They are better answered with a better question.  That’s what Paul gives.  A better question.

How about you today?  Do you have questions?  Sure you do . . . don’t we all.  An answer is not what you want . . . a better question can take you to places in your relationship to God than all the half-baked answers in the world.