Mensa Otabil - What You See (10/23/2025)
How can we go beyond normal, the average, and be on top of our game in all that we do in our service for God and in the work of our hands? So we go to the Book of Genesis, chapter 15, verse 5. Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
This is an encounter between God and Abraham. Abraham was a follower of God; he served God faithfully, but Abraham had a need. He needed a child, and that aspect of his life was not going so well. So although he was doing well in one area, or many areas, of his life, the childbed was giving him a big problem, and he saw himself disadvantaged. He saw that he could have no heir, and so he complained to God, as he had done many times before. God said, "If I'm going to make you move out of your state of not having a child, I have to change the way you see." And it has an implication for excellence: the way you see things will affect the limits of your performance.
So God took Abraham from his tent and brought him out to look up into the sky, and He told him to count the stars. What is God doing? God is changing the way Abraham sees things. If you're going to excel in life, there has to be a way you see life that helps you to break barriers. So three things I'm going to say about you: first, what you see about yourself-having a healthy sense of who you are.
Now, there are two extremes you can look at yourself from. There are people who think they're the best people in the world and that nobody matters; that's one extreme. Then there are people who think they are nothing in this world and that everybody is better than them; that's another extreme. These two extremes are all wrong. In between, there is a sober reflection of who you are - from God's point of view, how He created you to be, the talent you have, the gifts you have, and even some of your negatives. Just have a full, well-rounded view about yourself, but beyond everything, you have to see yourself from God's point of view: that God loves you, He has a plan for you, He has given you gifts, and He's going to do great things with you. So you have to see yourself rightly.
Secondly, what you see about your situation: for Abraham, he saw, "I have no child," but God says you have to see beyond your situation. You have to change that picture in your mind. It has been said that the way you see the problem is the problem. The way you see the problem is the problem. If you see a problem as impossible, then you will not find a way to solve it. If you see the same problem as possible, you will try to find a way to solve it. If you think you are caught in a place and there is no way out, you just lie down and die. But if you think you are caught in a place and you see a flicker of light, you will feel there is a way out, and you will do everything to get out. The way you see the problem is the problem, and that's what God is saying to Abraham: the way you see yourself is the problem. See yourself as a father of descendants as many as the stars in the sky. The way you see the situation must change.
Thirdly, what you see about your future: of course, for Abraham, if he has no child, then his future is bleak. But God says your future is going to be far greater than you have imagined. I don't know about you, but the way you see the future determines how you live your life today. If you think your future will amount to nothing, you will squander every opportunity you have today. So excellence comes through what you see: what you see about yourself, about your situation, and about your future.
Let's pray. Say with me, "Heavenly Father, you see what I do not see and know what I do not know. Open my eyes to see my life as you see it." In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, I'll catch you again tomorrow. I'm Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.