by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
“But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth<\/em>” (Exodus 9:16).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
God tells Pharaoh something surprising. Pharaoh’s continued existence isn’t a sign of strength; it’s a platform for God’s glory. God is using even Pharaoh’s stubbornness to reveal His power and make His name known.<\/p>\n
This verse should reframe how we think about opposition and delay. Sometimes the things that stand against us aren’t obstacles to God’s plan; they’re platforms for it. God can use resistance to highlight His strength. He can use delays to deepen your trust. He can use difficult people or situations to display His faithfulness in ways comfort never could.<\/p>\n
Think about the challenges in your life that feel immovable. What if God is using them to show you something about Himself? What if the very thing you wish would disappear is the thing God is using to reveal His power? Pharaoh wasn’t in control; God was, and the same is true in your life.<\/p>\n
Nothing stands so tall that God can’t use it for His purpose.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores “But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth” (Exodus 9:16). God tells Pharaoh something surprising. Pharaoh’s continued existence isn’t a sign of strength; it’s a platform for God’s glory. God is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[941,735],"class_list":["post-94786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-purpose","tag-sovereignty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95501,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-god-wants-everyone-saved-why-does-he-harden-some\/","url_meta":{"origin":94786,"position":0},"title":"If God wants everyone saved, why does He harden some?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Scripture says God wills all to be saved (I Timothy 2:4), yet Paul says that God hardens whom He wills, and that we are not to talk back to God or question why He hardens vessels of wrath such as Pharaoh (Romans 9:16-19) How can the two be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35229,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pharaohs-hard-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":94786,"position":1},"title":"Pharaoh’s Hard Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Bassford There are few Scriptural discussions with more doctrinal overtones than the discussion of what God does to Pharaoh's heart in Exodus. The text does, after all, say several times, \"God hardened Pharaoh's heart.\" It's this way in every translation of the Bible I've ever seen. That's the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/rock-heart-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calvinism-in-romans-9\/","url_meta":{"origin":94786,"position":2},"title":"Calvinism in Romans 9","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford If there is any passage in the Bible that Calvinists love, it is Romans 9:6-24. Upon a casual reading, it seems to confirm the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. It talks at great length about God's mercy and God's choice being the deciding factors in human existence,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-romans-9-support-calvinism\/","url_meta":{"origin":94786,"position":3},"title":"Does Romans 9 support Calvinism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been worrying over Calvinism. Could you help me understand Romans 9:20-22 and Romans 9:11-16? In verse 13 you can read of Esau being hated which is after verse 12 where you can read about the older will serve the younger. Calvinist may use this to support their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/predetermined-destiny\/","url_meta":{"origin":94786,"position":4},"title":"Predetermined Destiny","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Many people in this world believe in fate or destiny. They feel there is a specific role chosen for them which they must play, whatever their personal choice. John Calvin taught that God predestines some people to be Christians and, if so chosen by God, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15233,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-didnt-god-destroy-satan-earlier\/","url_meta":{"origin":94786,"position":5},"title":"Why didn’t God destroy Satan earlier?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Brother, I tried searching for an answer from your questions collection for the question: Why God did not destroy Satan and allowed him to live to this date? Can you please clarify? Thank you. Answer: \"Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}