Deuteronomy 2:30-31 (KJV)
But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.

Nowhere does the Bible shy away from the idea that God hardens hearts. I think the reason that is a problem to so many is because they tend to apply it to a Calvinistic view of God choosing some to be damned forever in hell.  It would be much better to view it as God choosing our roles in His plan. He chooses that:

• All would be saved
• The saved would be united together in a local church for service and that 
• Those who reject salvation are judged because of that rejection

Notice that God did not turn the heart of Sihon in Israel’s favor. God could have had He chosen. That was not His choice. God could make all our obstacles vanish before our eyes and before we see them as an obstacle. He doesn’t do that always. (Could we even know how many times He has done that if He has removed them before we recognized them?) Sometimes God allows the obstacle, even chooses the obstacle for some purpose greater than our ease.

God is still God, still capable and still wonderfully good to us. We must choose to glorify Him in all things, even the obstacles.

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Deuteronomy 2:30-31 (KJV) Even In The Obstacles

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