Mensa Otabil - Faith to Refuse - Part 1
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Today, I will consider another important aspect of faith, which I have called «faith to refuse.» Or, if you want to be more dramatic, «faith to reject.» I will do this in two parts; this is part one of «faith to refuse.» When I talk about faith to refuse, it is the ability to reject wrong labels on your life. It is the ability to reject being stuck in a place that God has not purposed for you, and it is the kind of faith that Moses exercised in order to fulfill his destiny. Our text will be taken from the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verses 24 to 26. If you are familiar with the book of Hebrews, chapter 11 is referred to as the «faith hall of fame» because the entire chapter focuses on faith. It defines faith and then presents examples of faith, primarily from the Old Testament, showcasing the lives of people who lived by faith.
So, Hebrews chapter 11, verses 24 to 26 reads: «By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward.» I want you to note three words, each occurring in the three verses I read. In verse 24, note the word «refused,» and you can underline it in your Bible. In verse 25, note the word «choosing,» and underline or highlight it. In verse 26, note the word «esteeming,» and underline or highlight it. If you’re using different translations of the Bible, they may have different words but carry the same idea: refuse, choose, esteem.
In the Bible, there is an account of Egypt, where Moses was raised, and there is a real, historical Egypt. However, many times throughout the Bible, as students of the Bible, we see Egypt also as a symbol of oppression or a symbol of the world system. In my message today, I want you to view Egypt in that sense—as a world system or as an oppressive system. That is what Egypt was to Moses. He was born into Egypt, a nation that oppressed his people, and you and I are born into an oppressive world system that also wants to keep us down. But we are here to refuse and reject being kept down.
Our passage today deals with Moses and how he refused something that was supposed to be a blessing for him. By faith, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. To refuse simply means to say «no» to something. Many of us know how to say «yes» but have never learned how to say «no.» There are certain things in life that we must learn to say «no» to, and by faith, Moses was able to say «no» to Pharaoh’s daughter. The passage signifies that Moses was able to say «no» when he became of age. The phrase «became of age» is very important because this happened when he was 40 years old; that is when he became fully aware of himself. The phrase means to reach maturity. When he left childishness and came to maturity, he became of age. Interestingly, when you read the original language, the phrase also means to discover your greatness. So when Moses became of age, he discovered his greatness; he found that his life was far bigger than just becoming the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
No matter how great your parents are, you must discover your greatness beyond your parentage. At some point in our lives, each one of us must seek an identity greater than just being the child of someone. Your father may have achieved greatness; your mother may have achieved greatness; but when you become of age, you must seek your greatness. That is what Moses was born into. He grew up in a very prestigious environment, but when he became of age, he discovered his own greatness. May God help you discover your greatness. The book of Acts gives us some clarity about how that happened. Acts chapter 7, verse 23 says, «Now when he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.» That phrase is another way of saying it dawned on him, or he became aware; something burned in his heart.
When Moses reached this age, something ignited inside him that told him, «You are bigger than that, Moses. You are better than that, Moses. You are greater than that, Moses.» Something touched him, and he knew that he had something to do with his life. There are moments in our lives when each one of us must come of age and realize the purpose of our lives.
If you know the story of Moses, there was a decree made by the Pharaoh of Egypt that every male child should be killed. That was not a decision Moses made; it was made by Pharaoh. His parents made a decision for him because he was a good boy, a handsome boy, and they did not want him to die. The Bible says they hid him for a long time to prevent him from being destroyed. This was not Moses’s decision; it was a decision made by his parents. When it became impossible to hide him, his parents took him to a place where he would be discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. They knew where Pharaoh’s daughter went to bathe, and they put Moses in the river and waited to see what would happen. Moses was discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, who decided she would not allow this boy to be killed; she would raise him as a prince of Egypt. So she made a decision for Moses as well. Good decisions were made for him—his parents' good decision and Pharaoh’s daughter’s good decision.
Then, when Moses came of age, he had to decide for himself. No matter what decisions have been made for you, there comes a time when you must make your own decision. He came of age, and Moses had grown with a label: «Prince of Egypt.» That was his label, his title—Prince of Egypt. If you lived in those times, there would be servants walking around him calling him «Prince,» «Mr. Prince,» «Prince of Egypt.» If he were in Ghana, people would be carrying him in a palanquin; he was a privileged boy. That was his label. But his mission was not «Prince of Egypt»; his mission was «Deliverer of Israel.»
So he had a label that said he was a prince, but his mission was to be a deliverer. There are times when your label doesn’t fit your mission. What you are called doesn’t match what you have been called to do. How people see you doesn’t fit how God sees you. There are times when a label you have inherited does not fit you. For Moses, the label of «Prince of Egypt» seemed to be a good label, but some of us have grown up with wrong labels that do not fit our mission. Today, I came to tell you, you can refuse the wrong label.
For everyone with a self-limiting label—something defined by others, something that has been imposed on you—may God set you free. In the Bible, you find many people who inherited a wrong label but had a greater mission. If you are Jephthah, the label on your life says «Harlot’s son» or «prostitute son,» but the mission of your life says «the Lord’s warrior.» Life says you are a harlot’s son, but God says you are a mighty warrior—the Lord’s warrior! If you are Jabez, the label on your life says you are a child of pain, but the mission on your life says «possessor of enlarged territories.» You must choose the label or the mission. If you are Paul, the label on your life says «persecutor of the church,» but the mission of your life says «planter of churches.»
If you are David, the label on your life says «conceived in iniquity,» but the mission of your life says «the man after God’s heart.» If you are Esther, the label on your life says «orphaned slave girl,» but the mission of your life is «queen and a national influencer.» If you are Gideon, the label on your life says «timid farmer,» but the mission of your life says «mighty man of valor.» I don’t know about you; if there is a label upon your life that does not fit your mission, you have to reject it. Somebody say, «I reject it!»
There are people who have been wrongly labeled. Perhaps you made a mistake once in your life, and people have determined that this is who you are for your lifetime. Maybe you made a mistake in secondary school, and people want to define it as your lifetime mission. But you have to reject it; it was a mistake in the past, not your destiny. God has an assignment for you; God has a destiny for you, and you will fulfill it.
As an African, you may inherit a label of «third world,» but your mission is not «third world.» My mission is not «third world»; my mission is to be a world changer, a global influencer. That is your mission. The world may call you «third world,» but you are first in God’s mind. Moses had the label of «Prince of Egypt,» which seemed good, but the mission was greater than being the prince. In fact, if he had remained «Prince of Egypt,» we would never have heard of him.
He took on the mission of liberator of God’s people in Israel, and thousands of years later, we still talk about Moses because he moved from the label to the mission. So what did Moses do when he became of age? There are three main things he did. First, he refused the wrong label.
By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He did it by faith; he refused to be called by a label that was not his mission. He stopped living by his childhood fears. Fear had been part of Moses’s life; it was fear that landed him in the palace of Pharaoh. Fear dictated all the choices his parents made for him, and there are adults who are still living by childhood fears. The fear of parents has limited your potential; the fear of your past has limited your potential. Some decisions parents make for children out of fear—"Don’t do that,» «Don’t dream that,» «Don’t aspire to do that"—impose a burden on you. The fear of childhood has become a limitation on your future.
I came to announce to somebody, it’s time to reject the fear of your childhood. In the midst of witches, you will prosper! You can’t live your life looking behind you to see which auntie or uncle is coming after you; you have to live your life looking at the vision that God has for you, the mission ahead of you, and fulfilling your destiny. Somebody say, «I refuse the wrong label!»
Moses stopped living a lie; his life was a lie for 40 years. He was called an Egyptian, but he was a Hebrew. At a certain point, that pretense may have saved his life, but at this point, it had no purpose. Many people continue to live a lie; they boast of a school they did not attend, pride themselves in grades they did not earn, or claim to have passed tests they failed. They point to houses that are not theirs or relatives they are not related to—all to boost their self-esteem.
But when you come of age, you must come out as you are. Moses said, «I am not an Egyptian; I am a Hebrew.» It may have helped you face issues in your past, but it will not help you now. You cannot continue living a lie or pretending to be who you are not. You cannot run away from the mission God has given you because it seems dangerous. Moses refused the wrong label, and there are people who must refuse the wrong label.
Somebody saw you once and determined, «This is how far you will go.» Your teacher marked one of your papers, telling you that you were not smart. Perhaps they graded 10 papers but told you that you had no potential. You cannot imprison yourself in a wrong label when God has called you for a mission greater than your fears and limitations.
May God set you free! May you stop living a lie! May God grant you victory! Somebody say, «I refuse every wrong label!» Moses did not only refuse a label; he also chose God’s mission. Verse 25 reads, «Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God.» For Moses, it was a tough choice because the label he was rejecting and what he was choosing seemed like he was moving away from something good to something hard, but Moses accepted his divine calling. He acted in line with God’s mission and started doing something about it.
When God has a mission for you, it will conflict with the label placed upon your life. The label of my life when I was growing up is not the mission I am living out now. If I had lived by the label placed on my life, I would be nowhere near a pulpit; I would be nowhere near preaching. I remember one year in school, I was just on top of the red line, a borderline student. If someone had just one more mark, I would have failed.
But my mission is not based on how I was assessed in school; it is greater than my report card. My report card may say borderline average, but my mission is far greater than that. I had to choose God’s mission for my life, and it is amazing what happens when you choose God’s way. Suddenly, you become intelligent and capable, and the fears that made you underperform dissipate. You find yourself excelling because you refused the wrong label and have chosen God’s mission.
May God help you! Moses chose God’s mission for his life. How could Moses do that? How could he make such a choice? The Bible says he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. He esteemed God’s mission as greater; he saw God’s mission as more significant. He compared the mission God had for him with the label Egypt had given him and concluded that what God has for him is better. He expected his reward from God.
Many people are living in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s where their lives as adults are dictated by labels placed upon them in childhood. When they were young, they might have been called «bad boy» or «bad girl» for a small mistake they made. The sad thing is, they grow up believing it; they’ve accepted a label based on a tiny mistake as a child and struggle throughout their lives.
Today, I came to announce deliverance for every captive. By faith, you will refuse the wrong label. For some of you, the label has been «small boy» or «small girl.» I remember when I started working at a young age. One senior staff member called me «small boy.» I eventually gathered the courage to confront him, reminding him that I was working alongside him. One day, years later, he approached me, surprised at how much I had accomplished.
There are people who will belittle you, wanting you to accept their narrative of your incompetence. But I came to announce to someone that God has a mission for your life, and you will refuse it! Pharaoh’s daughter said, «I found you in the river, Moses. I saved you. Without me, you are nothing.» But Moses said, «Thank you for what you did for me, but my destiny is not limited to where you want me to be. I refuse to remain in your shadow.»
By faith, Moses chose something better and esteemed the Creator. If you are an adult living under the shadow of your youth, I announce liberation to you. If you are living a life defined by a label imposed when you were young, today is the day to reject that label.
You may have struggled with those labels, perhaps even identified as a «small boy» or «small girl.» But I declare today that every label placed on you is broken in the name of Jesus. May God set you free, and like Moses, may you rise to fulfill your God-given mission.
In Jesus' name, let everybody say, «Amen.» I give you an assignment: from now on, when anyone repeats the wrong label, even if you cannot tell them boldly to their face, under your breath say, «I reject it! I refuse it!» You must reject it and choose a better way. In Jesus' name, amen!