Mensa Otabil - God Teaches Us to Profit (10/03/2025)
We’re talking about fruitfulness. God helps us to be fruitful; He guides us, He orders our steps, and He has commanded us to be fruitful. Isaiah chapter 48, verse 17 says, «Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.» Pay attention to what God says: He teaches us to profit. He instructs us and guides us to be profitable.
Normally, when we talk about profit, we are discussing trading, accounting, or profit and loss. In this context, God is talking about profit in every area of our lives; He wants our lives to gain, to increase, and to be profitable. He wants us to profit spiritually, mentally, and in faith and wisdom. Our Christian life requires us to become fruitful, and the one who teaches us to be fruitful is the Lord God Himself. He doesn’t just give us a fruitful earth or talents and grace; He also teaches us. When God teaches us, He guides us and helps us to discover things that we would not ordinarily discover.
One of the things that God helps us with when He teaches us is to learn the things related to our fruitfulness easily. Everyone has something difficult for them to learn, while there are things they learn quite easily. God directs us into paths he has already prepared for us, and when God guides us on a path, one of the marks of that path is easy learning. Easy learning occurs when you discover an area as if you were prepared to do it; everything about that area is easy for you to understand and absorb more than in other areas.
Some people find law easy, others engage with history effortlessly, while some pursue medicine with ease. This easy learning doesn’t mean they don’t face challenges, but there is a flow in their learning. In contrast, some individuals may enter fields that seem to resist them; everything in that field feels like a struggle, and they don’t grasp it with excitement or ability. If you experience severe resistance as you advance in your studies, it may be that God is telling you this is not an area of fruitfulness for you. Therefore, easy learning is something you should consider.
Secondly, when God teaches us, He gives us fulfillment. When God wants us to be profitable, He guides us to areas aligned with our gifts, aptitudes, and temperament so that learning becomes easy. As we engage in these tasks, we find fulfillment; they make us glad. Even if the work is hard, we still feel our lives contribute to something meaningful and good. It is disheartening to go through life working hard yet feeling that everything is useless or hopeless.
If God is the one guiding you to profit, even when it is tough, you will end each day fulfilled, knowing you have done something profitable. The third aspect is that if God is the one teaching us, He will direct us to something we are passionate about-something we can engage all our energy in. You may even forget the time of day while doing it because you love it; everything about you is in the flow, and you can fully commit to it. Therefore, when challenges arise, you are still able to persevere, even if you don’t receive the financial rewards you desire.
So how does God teach us to profit? He directs us to areas where learning is not too tedious-areas of easy learning. He aligns these paths with our frame of mind, the way we work, think, and process information. He directs us into areas where we find fulfillment and where we can contribute with our passion. When all these elements come together, our lives become profitable. It is the Lord who teaches us to profit, and may He guide you in a profitable direction.
Let’s pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, teach me to make the right choices and take the right actions in all that I do. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» May the Lord make your life very profitable. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.