"So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?' On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honourable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and make His power known, endured with patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles." Romans 9:18-24

Upon first reading this today, I initially gulped, to be honest. That's been one of the big questions I've been asking God lately- "Why, if You are all-powerful God, can't you just break through and open more people's eyes here? Why do some people have to be 'vessels of wrath'?" But then I finished reading the passage, and saw the words "endured with patience", "molded vs molder", "riches of glory". And I thought about what Paul wrote earlier in this letter (5:8), "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that WHILE we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." WE were the ones who disobeyed Him. We were the ones who turned our backs on Him in the garden, when He was offering us perfection. He was the One who was obedient to His Father. He was the One who turned His back on His perfect Son. He was the One who offered us forgiveness and healing. That's the love and mercy of God. So who am I to say that it's not fair that not everyone is going to be a vessel of mercy? We all disobeyed God. It's only by HIS mercy that I can even be called a "vessel of mercy". If it wasn't for Jesus absorbing God's wrath, I'd be a vessel of wrath today. So if anything, this should not leave me in a place of despair and complacency, but move me to a place of humility and urgency for my friends. But not a stressful, "it's on me" urgency, because He knows who He "prepared beforehand for His glory." God is enduring in patience towards us. I don't know who He has called. I'm just now called to be a vessel of His mercy towards others and preach this beautiful and upside-down and merciful message.