¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” ²⁰ 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? ²¹ Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?

Considered by many an unsatisfying answer from Paul, this passage strikes at the heart of our difficulty with God’s sovereignty. Our pride does not easily accept that we are finite creatures. This flies in the face of humanism that is prevalent in our age. To be sure, we are impressed with His image, but we are His creations. That means our will is contingent; it cannot be ultimately free. We are certainly free within the closed system of God’s will for us. But our will does not compete with His on an equal playing field. Only He can absolutely freely choose to do anything He desires.

There is no moral law higher than God by which He can be judged to be fair or not. He is certainly not accountable to us. Despite our protests, He does not have to respond to our accusations of unfairness because He chooses to be merciful to one and not to another. Job wrestled with this: “[H]ow can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times” (Job 9:2–3). He goes on, “How then can I answer Him … for though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge” (Job 9:14–15). Job turned from self-righteousness to challenging God’s righteousness: “Is it right for You indeed to oppress, to reject the labor of Your hands, and to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?” (Job 10:3). In the end, God finally answers him: “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? (Job 40:7–8).

When we are faced with God as He is, we are humbled and forced to acknowledge our finite humanness. In Job’s case, he humbly reassessed his objections and concluded, “I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know … Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3, 6). It remains for us—how do we respond to these revealed truths? We are but clay in the Potter’s hand, and God, our Potter, reserves all rights to us, like an author reserves all rights to his composition. Though we struggle, question and wrestle, we must ultimately find peace with our Creator by accepting that His sovereignty gives us the best possible world, and not human will. For His desires will come to pass.

Lord, I humbly submit to Your superior will, for I do not want to be found working against Your molding me as You desire.