Mensa Otabil - Stand and See (09/29/2025)
God wants us to stand. He wants us to stand still; He wants us to stand by faith. He wants us to rise up and stand. Today we are talking about standing in another way: stand and see. Habakkuk 2:1 says, «I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me and what I will answer when I am corrected.» God gave a vision to the prophet Habakkuk, and the vision was for an appointed time. This is how Habakkuk responded to the vision that God had given him: he says, «I will stand and I will set myself on the rampart.»
Habakkuk understood that he had placed himself in a position to see the full extent of the vision that God had given to him. When God gives you a vision, the way you position yourself will determine how you see it. If you are on the ground, you will see only what is on the ground; but when you stand up, you see the full extent of the vision. So Habakkuk says God has given me a vision. I’m not going to lie down because if I lie down, I only see what is around me on the ground. I’m going to stand and see the vision that God has given to me.
It’s difficult for you to see far when you put yourself down, so the first thing you do when God gives you a vision is rise up to see the full extent of that vision. When you think you are nothing, you will see nothing. When you think you are weak, you will see weakness. If you think you are down, you only see what is down; but when you are up, then you see the things that God has placed ahead of you.
But Habakkuk did more than stand. He says, «I will stand,» and then he adds, «I’ll set myself on the rampart.» The rampart is another word for a tower. Habakkuk says, «I will stand and see the vision, but I’m going to climb even higher than myself so I can see very far.» Anytime God speaks to you, you have to position yourself to see as far as the eye can see. God did that with Abraham when He spoke to Abraham. Abraham was in a tent. He said to Abraham, «Come out from the tent and look up to the heavens,» and He said, «So shall your descendants be.»
So today, I encourage you: come out from your weakness. Stand up high and watch, and see the full extent of what God has for you. Maybe you think God wants you to see ten, but actually He wants you to see a thousand. Maybe you think God wants to give you a thousand, but actually He wants to give you a million. Maybe you think God wants you to have a million, but actually He wants you to see a billion. When you stand on the ramparts, when you stand on the tower, you see the full extent of the vision that He wants to unfold to you.
After waiting on the Lord for forty days, we must stand not only on our feet, but we must stand above our feet. How do we stand on the tower? We stand by faith, by allowing the Holy Spirit to elevate our vision, to inspire our minds, and to inspire our hearts. I believe in this season God will drop something in your heart that will explode your vision and make you see something that you never thought was possible.
It’s within your grasp, and you will take it, and you will possess it, and you will do mighty things for God. So see all the lives that God is going to impact through you. See all the souls that you’re going to bring to the Kingdom of God, and see all the great things that God is allowing you to see and to possess. Are you ready to pray for that? Say with me, «Heavenly Father, today I stand by faith on a high tower to see all that You’ve made available to me. I see all of it, and I claim all of it in Jesus' name. Amen.» And Pastor Mensa Otabil, shalom, peace, and life to you.