Scraps

 God's gifts and call are irrevocable. (Romans 11:29)

This passage does not say that God's gift and call are inevitable. For the people of Israel it wasn't. This is the idea that is often misquoted that "God works all things together for good." The verse says that In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) For people who don't love God and live into their calling will probably find life somewhere between difficult and intolerable. Many things happen that God does not want, but nothing happens that God cannot redeem or overcome by his graceful power through our trust in him.

The good news about God's gift and call is that he does not take them away from us. We can refuse them, though. Over time our choices become our destiny. I was told once that God's will is infinitely malleable, but the will of human beings is not. God can always be willing to accept, forgive, hope, and help, but human beings will eventually come to a place of no return for good or ill. So we are told to seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near. (Isaiah 55:12)

God has wonderful things in mind, great hopes and joys in store for each of us and all of us. Our greatest challenge is trusting that fact and forming a life based on it. We cannot do it alone, but that is why God sends his greatest irrevocable gift to us: Jesus, Immanuel, God with us.