Mensa Otabil - Decide and Act
- Watch
- Donate
We’ve passed the halfway mark, and so we’re making a lot of progress in our prayer as we start 2023 on a good note. We’re going to read a very interesting story from the book of Second Kings, chapter 7, verses 3 and 4. Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said to one another, «Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, 'We’ll enter the city, ' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians; if they keep us alive, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall only die.»
This is a very interesting story of a famine that had happened in Samaria because the Syrian army had garrisoned around Samaria, and because of that, there is no trade and no agriculture. So there is famine in the city of Samaria, and there are four lepers who are from Samaria, but because lepers were not allowed to enter into the city, they are sitting outside the city walls and going through difficulty. If anything, they are the worst off, because even the well-abled people are in famine. What about the lepers who are sitting outside the city gates? Their food supplies are gone; nobody’s throwing crumbs to them. So they’re going through difficulty and they’re trying to determine what to do. There are two important things I want you to learn from them for each one of us as we also face difficulty in life.
The first thing is that we have to ask bold questions. We have to ask questions, and the question they ask is, «Why sit we here and die?» Why do I allow this situation to destroy me? Why do I stay here and complain? Why sit we here and die? It’s not just a complaint but a question that bears an answer. In every time of crisis, the quality of our questions is critical to the answers we’re going to receive. They analyze the options they have. They say, «Well, there’s famine in the city, so if we go to the city, there’s famine, and we’re going to die. If we sit here, definitely we’re going to die; nobody is going to throw food at us. If we go to the Syrian camp, we have two options: they may keep us alive, or they may kill us.» In other words, in all three circumstances, we may die, but in the Syrian army, there is a slim possibility we will live.
It’s always good, no matter how bleak life is, dark, and difficult to see that sliver of hope, that path, that option that is open to you. If you take it, it can change the outcome of your life. Ask bold questions. So when they decided that going to the Syrian army was best, they did the second thing, which is very important: they took bold steps. Once you know, «These are my options and this is the path I’m going to take,» don’t hesitate. Take bold steps. They took bold steps to go to the Syrian army. They knew that their best options were with the Syrian army. They could die, but they could also live.
Many times, people don’t see the better options; they always see the gloom and the doom and what cannot be done and what is not possible. But they never see the way out that God has given to them. They took bold steps, and guess what? They went to the Syrian army, and the Syrian army had fled. There was a lot of food and so much more than they could carry. If you want God’s blessings in 2023, you have to ask yourself very bold questions. Why am I allowing this to happen to me? Then, when you find your path, take bold steps. Don’t hesitate; just go and move on, and God is with you. There is victory at the end for you.
Let’s pray: Say with me, «Heavenly Father, this year I refuse to sit and complain. I boldly arise and take all that you have for me. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.» We’re going to rise, we’re going to be bold, and we’re going to possess our inheritance. I’ll catch you again tomorrow, and Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.