Exodus

Perfect.

I've been reading through the ten plagues God sent on Egypt as Moses was trying to get the Israelites out of slavery under Pharaoh, and around plague seven I was thinking, "Why is God doing this?" Because, you know, every time God is about to send a plague, He was also saying to Moses and Aaron, "I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart." And Pharaoh wouldn't let the Israelites go. So why send calamity and yet refuse to let Pharaoh acquiesce? Why allow so many people to suffer even when You know the outcome?

And I know that I've heard the answer to my own question many times before, and probably have even answered that question when other people brought it up, but it was so good and perfect to read Exodus 9:16 in the middle of plague seven (hail):

But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

*"you" refers to Pharaoh

I don't know. It is just such a good and needed reminder that God is sovereign, and that His actions are just, no matter what it may seem like to us. My study Bible references Romans 9:

verses 14-16
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

Not one the easiest facets of Christianity to ponder or accept, and yet, it is one of the most.....praiseworthy. As in, it is a precept that gives incredible security (paradoxical as it may seem), because you know that God cannot be swayed as humans can be. He can't trip up, He can't stumble, He can't be fallen like we are. He is constant, eternally constant, and sovereign. And He is praiseworthy for that (of course).

It is, I believe, one of the ultimate answers to "why?" When we ask why anything happens to us, certainly when I have asked that question to Him. He answered me that He might show me His love, but I understand now, also, "that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."