Day 30

Exodus 9–10 | Mark 14:12–42

“For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power, so that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:16)

My Bible study brothers and I are walking through Daniel right now, and if there’s one truth that keeps standing out, it’s this: God is sovereign over all kingdoms, all rulers, all time.

In today’s reading, Pharaoh thought he held ultimate power, but God makes it clear—Pharaoh’s rise, his rule, even his resistance—were all under God’s authority. “For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you My power…” (Exodus 9:16)

At the same time, I can’t stop thinking about a conversation I had with a brother last night—wrestling through the tension between God’s sovereignty and human free will. How can both be true? Scripture is clear that God decrees all things, and yet within His sovereign plan, we make real choices with real consequences. It’s a paradox my finite mind can’t fully grasp, but one I know to be true because God’s Word holds both in perfect harmony.

And then I come to Mark 14. Jesus—God in the flesh—prays in Gethsemane. “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36) The Son of God prayed to the Father. He wrestled. He pleaded. And yet, He surrendered. If there was ever a moment to resolve the mystery of God’s will and human will, it’s here. Jesus, fully God and fully man, shows us the way. He asked, but He also yielded. He trusted that His Father’s will—though costly—was good.

Pharaoh hardened his heart. Jesus bowed His. Two pictures of human will—one resisting God, the other surrendering to Him. And in the end, only one kingdom stands.

I don’t have all the answers to the tension between sovereignty and free will. But I know this: God reigns. Over pharaohs and empires, over nations and history, over my life and yours. He hears our prayers, and yet His purposes never fail. My job and yours isn’t to have it all figured out—it’s to trust Him, pray with boldness, and surrender fully.

Lord, You are sovereign over all things. Teach me to trust You, even when I don’t understand. And when my will clashes with Yours, give me the faith to surrender. Give me eyes to see that Your ways are always good. Amen.