Have you ever seen the movie White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye? I love that movie. I love the part when they go to see the Haynes Sisters perform in Florida, and they start talking about their eye color. One is focused in on blue eyes and the other is focused in on brown eyes. They were both sitting at the same table, but where they were seated at the table determined which Haynes Sister they could see best.
Where you’re sitting determines what you see. So…where are you sitting?
This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. (Ephesians 1:19-22)
For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6)
God gave us a really cool seat. We are seated with Christ at His right hand…..FAR ABOVE!
I really love the prayers in the Bible, especially the one found in Acts chapter 4.
When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,
‘Why were the nations so angry?
Why did they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
the rulers gathered together
against the Lord
and against his Messiah.’“In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:24-30)
What I love most about this prayer is what it starts with. “God, You are Lord…Creator of heaven, and earth, and everything in them….”
They start the prayer with, “You are Lord of ALL.” And He still is Lord of ALL….even of whatever you’re facing. Even of the sickness in your body. Even of the lack in your checkbook. Even of the depression trying to plague you day and night. He is Lord of ALL!
The prayer doesn’t start with the problem. It starts with them looking up.
And I love that of this whole prayer, they only devote 7 words to the problem. Only 7 words. “And now, O Lord, hear their threats.” That’s it. Why?
They were facing a very real problem. There was persecution against the church. It wasn’t long after this Stephen was arrested and stoned. The threat was very real, but I think that in light of who they were looking at, the problem didn’t even seem like a problem at all.
When you’re seated FAR ABOVE and look down, your problem will seem small in comparison, too. In fact, the higher you sit, the smaller the things on the ground look. Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever looked down from a high place, like the top of the empire state building or an airplane window?
I took this picture from an engineless glider in Hawaii about 3,000 feet or so off the ground. It gave me a whole different viewpoint of what I could see on the ground. Things looked so small from the air that looked so big on the ground. It gives a whole different perspective to look at something from higher up.
If we’re praying in fear or desperation, we are likely sitting among our problems and not in our seat that is FAR ABOVE. And when we sit on that low level, all we can see is the trial. It’s hard to look past it. It consumes us. It can be overwhelming and depressing and almost make us feel like giving up….like we’re never going to make it. And we go to God telling Him how BIG our problem is….
But if we would come up higher where He has seated us and look down, it will look more like a speck than a problem. When all we can see is Him, we will hide in that place of rest and peace. We can have confidence in the outcome because we will see how BIG He is and how able He is to handle it. And we’ll be able to turn to our problem and tell it how BIG our God is.
So….where are you sitting?