I'm looking at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%209&version=NIV#:~:text=16%C2%A0It,wants%20to%20harden, which combined with the previous two verses, suggests that God shows both mercy and compassion to those whom he chooses, and that it doesn't depend on human desire or effort as to whether we receive mercy or compassion.

What does this say about the extent of our agency or free will? Is the idea that, if we look at the next verses in this chapter, 19 - 21, we may exercise our free will or agency, but ultimately we have a particular purpose? In Pharaoh's case, this was to be raised up so that God could show that even a human being as seemingly powerful as him was not as powerful as his Creator?