Mensa Otabil - Expand (10/03/2025)
Welcome to day number 21 of our 40 days of power. We are now in the second half of our time of consecration, and I trust that you are journeying well in faith and trusting the Lord to lead you day by day. Today, we’re looking at how to expand, and we are examining Isaiah chapter 54, verses 2 and 3: «Enlarge the place of your tent; let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you shall expand to the right hand and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited.»
The prophet Isaiah proclaimed this oracle from the Lord to Israel at a time when they felt despised, desolate, and depopulated. The nation is presented as a woman with no children, a woman who is desolate. This is the picture that the prophecy paints of the nation of Israel, and then God speaks a word of hope, saying to her, «Although you seem desolate, you have no people, and your inhabitants are all gone, and there are no populations in your cities, get ready because I’m about to do something great, and I’m going to make you rejoice because you have abundance.»
In preparation for what God is about to do, He tells them to enlarge the place of their dwelling or the place of their tent. He didn’t tell them to enlarge their tent but to enlarge the place of their tent. That’s a very different concept. The place of your tent is the boundary you have put around your tent. God is about to expand them, and He says that before He brings in the abundance, they must be ready for it. They have to enlarge their boundaries so the tent can be enlarged because if they don’t enlarge the boundaries, no matter how much they want the tent to grow, it cannot, as the tent grows within a boundary.
The basic principle God has given to Israel is that every principle or process of expansion begins with enlarging your boundaries, enlarging your vision, enlarging your capacity, and enlarging your scope. Boundaries can sometimes be good; they prevent us from getting into danger. However, sometimes boundaries can stop you from expanding and growing. Sometimes the boundary can be something you have told yourself; it can be a boundary inherited from your family, based on the color of your skin, or based on your educational achievement. All these boundaries can be limitations.
God says to the children of Israel, «Enlarge your boundaries; open up your boundaries.» If you open up your boundaries, then you can open up your tent. I like how He tells them in verse 3, «For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants shall inherit the nations.» I believe that word is a sure word for you: God is about to do something in your life, and you will expand to the left and to the right. You’re going to expand on all sides. Yes, for the moment it seems like you don’t have enough; you feel limited, but get ready, get ready, get ready! God is about to expand you.
Before that expansion comes, your mind must expand, your vision must expand, your understanding must expand, your faith must expand, and you must have the boldness to dream new dreams, to have a new vision, to have a new appetite, and to have new desires. Don’t allow your past to be a boundary to the future that God has for you. He has great plans for you; He’s taking you to a better place, a good place. Get ready for it. Expand the place of your tent. I believe this is a great word for you, for me, and for each one of us as we wait on the Lord and pray. It’s time to enlarge the place of our tent.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I enlarge my vision for life. Help me to stretch out and boldly step out into new territories. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» It’s time to dare to do new and bold ventures for the Lord. God is not finished with you yet; the best of your days is waiting for you. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.