Joel Osteen - Keep Your Seat (05/15/2018)
Joel Osteen explains that under the old covenant priests could never sit because their work of atonement was never finished, but Jesus declared «It is finished» and sat down at God’s right hand, signifying complete rest; now believers are seated with Christ and should enter this rest by trusting God instead of striving in worry, knowing He fights our battles and turns obstacles into footstools.
From Constant Work to Finished Work
I want to talk to you today about «Keep your seat.» In the Old Testament, the priest had to go into the temple at certain times of the year and make sacrifices for the people’s sins. That is how they had forgiveness. It was all based on works. There were no chairs in the tabernacle, no reason for seats. The priest could not sit down. They lived under constant pressure. Their work was never done. Another sacrifice was always required.
But when Jesus was crucified, He said on the cross, «It is finished.» He was talking about the old way of having to constantly work for God’s goodness. The scripture says He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Him sitting is a picture of rest.
Under the old covenant, the priests were constantly working, trying to cover the sins, trying to be good enough, trying to make things happen. Under the new covenant, Jesus is sitting and resting. And here is the beauty: Paul said in Ephesians we are seated with Christ in heavenly places.
There is a seat of rest that belongs to you. You do not have to go through life roiled up on the inside, worried about your finances, trying to make a family member do what is right, frustrated because a dream has not come to pass. Do yourself a favor: take your seat. Enter into this rest.
When you live seated, you are in peace. You may have problems, but you know God is fighting your battles. People may have done you wrong. You are not trying to pay them back. You know God is your vindicator. He will make your wrongs right.
You are struggling with an illness. The medical report does not look good. You could go around upset and worried. Instead, you stay seated. You know God has you in the palm of His hand. You know the number of your days He will fulfill.
David’s Secret: The Battle Is the Lord’s
David said, «Though I am surrounded by trouble, my heart will know no fear for the Lord will bring me safely through.» He was saying, «Even though everything has come against me, I should be worried and upset, but I know a secret. The battle is not mine. The battle is the Lord’s, so I am going to take my seat.»
But when you try to make everything happen in your own strength—pay people back, fix this problem, live worried about a child—when you stand up, God steps back. As long as you are working, He will rest. But when you sit down, God will stand up, so to speak. He will go to work.
That is why He told the Israelites again and again, «Be still, and you will see the deliverance of the Lord.» He was saying, «Take your seat. I have got this. I am bigger than what you are facing.»
This does not mean that we do not do anything, that we sit back passive all day long. We should be responsible. We have to pray, believe, dream. But do it from a place of rest. You can work hard with a rest on the inside, knowing that you are doing your best and God will get you to where you are supposed to be.
Not working hard frustrated, thinking, «When am I going to get good breaks? Why is this not changing? Everybody is passing me up.» No, take your seat. Work from a place of rest, knowing that God’s favor is on your life, that He is breathing in your direction, that goodness and mercy are chasing you down.
Inner rest is just as important as outer rest. Your physical body may rest, but if your mind never rests, if you live roiled up on the inside fighting everything you do not like, that is going to wear you out.
Shift from «Doing» to «Done»
Even things we should stand against—an addiction, a sickness, dysfunction—if you are always in fight mode, pressured, thinking, «I have got to change this,» constantly working, it is going to drain your joy, drain your energy. You are living under the old covenant, under works. «If I can work hard enough, if I can make myself change, if I can make this problem go away.» Your heart is right, but your approach is wrong.
Why do you not approach it from a place of rest? «God, I cannot change this on my own. I need Your help. I am going to be my best, and, God, I know You are the Potter and I am the clay. In Your time and in Your way You will help me to change.»
Instead of doing, doing, doing, the right attitude is, «Done, done, done.» It is finished. God has already defeated every enemy. He has already planned out your days for good. Now, take your seat. Live from a place of rest, a place of peace, a place of trust.
When I first started ministering, I would get so nervous. I knew I was supposed to step up and pastor the church, but I dreaded having to get up in front of people. All through the week, I would have to fight these thoughts: «What if I do not know what to say? What if nobody comes? What if people do not listen to me?»
When I would finish my message on a Sunday morning, for about 30 minutes I would be so relieved and so grateful. Then I would start thinking about the next week: «What am I going to say next Sunday? What if I cannot come up with anything?»
After about six months, I thought, «I am not living like this anymore. I am going to take my seat.» If I had not made that decision, I would not have made it to 40 years old.
You were not created to carry those heavy burdens, weighted down with worry, stress, frustration. This is the reason some people have health issues. They cannot sleep at night. They have digestive problems, high blood pressure. It is because there is no inner rest. They have not learned how to take their seat.
On the inside they are constantly worried about their child, trying to figure everything out, frustrated because it is taking so long. The Psalmist said, «Be still and know that He is God.» This implies if you are not still, if you are not seated, you will not really know that He is God. You will not see His favor, His blessings, His goodness like you should.
Turn It Over to God
When things come against you, like with me, it is easy to let your mind constantly play all the what-ifs: What if it does not work out? What if the report is not good? What if they do not change?
Remember, when you are working, God is resting. If you will start resting, turning that over to God, then He will start working. He sees what is happening. He knows how big the challenge is. He knows who did you wrong. The good news is He already has the solution.
He is not going to just bring you out. He is going to make the enemy pay and bring you out better than you were before. Now, do your part. Take your seat. Quit trying to figure everything out. Some situations, there is no logical solution, and you have to turn your mind off, in one sense.
The scripture says lean not to your own understanding. And it is okay to say, «God, I do not see how this can work out. I do not see a way.» But do not stop there. Follow it up with, «But I know You have a way. I know this is not a surprise to You. You had the solution before I had the problem, so I am not going to worry. I am going to live from a place of peace.»
David said God will make your enemies your footstools. A footstool, of course, is something you put your feet up on. It is another picture of rest. God could have said He would make our enemies like grass so we could walk on them or like sand so it is soft. God used footstools to remind us to stay at rest.
When you face challenges, things you do not understand, things that are not fair, one of the first things you need to do is put your feet up. Come back to a place of peace. You have to do this by faith because every voice will tell you why it is not going to work out: «You are not going to get well. You saw the diagnosis.» «Your family will never be restored. There is too much strife.»
That is the enemy trying to deceive you into standing up. He will do everything he can to keep you from staying seated. He knows when you are seated, in peace, trusting God, he does not have a chance.
Labor to Enter God’s Rest
When you live from a place of rest, all the forces of darkness cannot stop you. God has the final say. It may have been meant for your harm, but God is going to turn it into a footstool—not just a place of rest, but instead of being a stumbling block to stop you, it is going to become a stepping stone to take you to the next level.
It says in Hebrews labor to enter into the rest of God. That sounds like a contradiction—labor to rest—but God used the word «labor» because He knew it is going to take work to stay seated. It is easy to stand up. It is easy to be offended and try to pay people back. It is easy to live worried, discouraged by problems.
That is why it says labor to enter His rest. It is going to take effort. And this is one of the few times that God tells us to work, and it does not say work to straighten out your neighbor or work to make the problem go away. He said work to stay seated.
Maybe you are trying to break an addiction. Yes, you have to be disciplined, you have to be determined. But if there is a war going on inside where you are upset with yourself, frustrated because you are not further along, trying to force it to happen in your own strength, you are not tapping into the grace that is available today.
You are like that priest that had to make a sacrifice again and again. No, you are under the new covenant. Christ defeated every enemy. The price has already been paid. You are not working to get the victory. You are working from victory.
When you know that you have already won, there is a rest. You do not live worried. You do not lose sleep at night. You know the outcome. God said He always causes you to triumph. And it may not turn out every time the way you thought or on your timetable, but God’s ways are better than our ways. This is what trust is all about.
When you live from a place of peace, you will not only enjoy your life more, but God will make things happen that you could not make happen.
My Father’s Example of Staying Seated
My parents started Lakewood in 1959 with 90 people. For about 13 years, the church did not really grow. They had less than 200 people. My father had much bigger things in his heart. At 17 years of age, he knew one day he was going to pastor a church with thousands. But he was not seeing any of that.
His friends would come by and say, «John, what are you doing out here still pastoring this little church?» They meant well, but sometimes your friends can be discouraging. They were saying, «John, why do you not stand up? Why do you not make something happen? Why do you not do it in your own strength?»
My father’s attitude was, «I am going to keep doing what I know God asked me to do. I am not going to be frustrated because it is not growing. I am not going to slack off because it has not turned out my way. I am going to keep my seat.»
He lived from this place of rest, knowing that God is in control, that God is keeping the records. These are tests that we have to pass. One of them is being faithful when nothing is changing, doing the right thing when it is not growing.
It is easy to get frustrated: «God, I have got bigger things in me. Why is it not changing?» No, keep your seat. God is watching you. He sees your faithfulness. He sees you doing the right thing when it is hard. And at the appointed time, in your due season, God is going to catapult you further than you can imagine.
You are not falling behind. You are being prepared. God is getting you ready. Everything you went through deposited something on the inside. The delays made you stronger. The fact that you are not as far along as you would like—that was ordained by God.
Those people that did not support you, the people that walked away—you could have become bitter. Instead, you stayed seated. You kept your peace. Now, get ready. Your time is coming. God has something bigger than you think, more rewarding than you can imagine. He is going to exceed your expectations.
That is what happened to my father. He ended up pastoring a church with thousands and thousands.
Boundaries and Rest
Sometimes the reason we are frustrated is we are trying to change things that only God can change. You cannot make people do what is right. You can pray for them, you can encourage them, but they have their own free will. Do not let them steal your joy.
You are not responsible for other people’s happiness. You cannot keep everyone in your life happy. You are responsible for your own happiness. And I do not mean to live selfishly, but sometimes we take on a false sense of responsibility. We think we have to keep all of our neighbors happy, all of our co-workers happy, all of our friends, all of our family.
I have learned some people do not want to be happy. They just want your attention. They want you to cater to them and come running every time they call. If you do not, they will try to make you feel guilty for not meeting all their demands. What they really want is to control you.
Do not fall into that trap. Be nice, be kind, but do not be a doormat. You have a destiny to fulfill. You have an assignment.
It is very easy to let people cause us to stand up, lose our peace, live frustrated. No, sit back down. Stay at rest.
I had to learn this lesson because I always felt responsible to keep everyone around me happy. It was easy when I was young—had a few friends, a few family members. But as I got older and had more family, more friends, cousins, relatives, colleagues, neighbors, I ended up spending half my time putting out fires, calming this one down, cheering this one up, running over here so this one would not be offended.
One day, I realized I cannot become who I am created to be if I am trying to please everybody around me. I had to draw that line in the sand and say, «I am sitting down. I am staying in peace, and I am not going to let people who will not take responsibility for their own happiness make me feel guilty and try to control me.»
I am a nice person. I say I am mean, but I am not. I will go the extra mile. But some people are high-maintenance. They will drain all the life, the energy, the good will out of you if you allow them to.
They are not being disciplined to manage their own life, their own emotions. They will expect you to keep them fixed. But you cannot fulfill your destiny, you cannot accomplish your assignment unless you put up some boundaries and not let people pull you out of rest, make you feel guilty, get you upset, like you have to keep them happy.
That is a codependent relationship. They cannot be happy without you. That is not healthy. Be nice, but be firm. You have to labor to enter into this rest. God would not have said labor if it was not going to be uncomfortable at times.
I know you are like me. You do not want to hurt people’s feelings. But you are not doing them a favor by catering to them. You are enabling their dysfunction, and that is keeping you from moving forward.
You have to set some boundaries: «I am not going to come running every time they call. I am not going to change my plans and not spend time with my family to go help them for the 400th time this month.»
Some people are alarmists. Every time they call, it is a major crisis, a major emergency. It has got to be dealt with right then. I do not know about you, but I have enough drama in my own life. I do not need somebody else’s drama.
A Personal Story of Setting Boundaries
Years ago, I had this friend I went to high school with. We played basketball together. He is a fine young man. I enjoyed being around him. But he started becoming overly dependent on me. I had to call him. I had to tell him what all of our friends were doing. I always had to go pick him up.
I felt pressured. I was young and did not know any better. I did it. But he got married, I got married, and I did not have the time like I had before. He could not understand it. He would get upset.
I tried to keep him happy. I would go see him: «Let us go play basketball. Let us hang out.» It was never enough. He would call back again upset. It got to the point where when I saw his name on my phone, I did not want to answer it.
I felt guilty, so I did. But he would tell me all the reasons why I was not being a good friend. One day, I learned what I am telling you. I am not responsible to keep everyone around me happy. And I was nice, but I stopped answering his calls.
The funny thing is, I did not feel guilty. I felt good about it. I knew he was pulling me out of rest. There are some people you cannot stay seated with them in your life. If you do not make an adjustment, you will be frustrated for the next 20 years.
Be respectful, but put up some boundaries. «Well, Joel, what if they get upset? What if they do not want to be my friend?» Say, «Thank you, Jesus.» They did you a favor.
Here is the bottom line: when you get to heaven, you are not going to answer to people about what you did with your life, how you spent your time, how you used your gifts. You are going to answer to God.
Your destiny is too important to let people control you. And there are a lot of things in life that we cannot change. We cannot make people do what is right. We cannot make ourselves get well necessarily. We cannot make a dream come to pass. But we can change our approach.
We can choose to not let these things upset us. We can make this decision to take our seats. Somebody cut you off in traffic—it is tempting to stand up, tempting to get upset: «Let me show them. Let me blow my horn.» They have already moved on. They are already in the next lane. You might as well sit back down.
Do not let a stranger pull you out of rest. It is not hurting them. It is souring your day. A lot of these things are simply tests. Are we going to keep letting the same things upset us, the same people get on our nerves, the same delays sour our life?
My message today is very simple: stay seated. This is a freeing way to live. When you know that God is in control, that nothing can happen without His permission, and that He is directing your steps, it takes the pressure off.
Rise Like an Eagle
You can live calm, in peace, not fighting everything you do not like. You have a disappointment, the medical report is not good: «I am not going to worry. I am staying seated. God is my healer.»
You have a setback in your finances, you lose a big client—every voice will say, «Be worried. Be upset. That is not fair.» If you will listen, you will hear the still, small voice saying, «Stay seated. God is working behind the scenes. Payback is coming. Abundance is on the way.»
I wonder how much more we would enjoy life if we would learn to live from this place of rest.
In the scripture, it compares a believer to an eagle. And it is interesting how an eagle handles challenges. A crow is one of the eagle’s biggest tests. When the eagle is flying, the crow will come up right behind it and pester it, do things to annoy it.
Even though the eagle is much bigger, it cannot turn as fast as the crow. So instead of fighting the crow, getting upset, trying to defend itself, the eagle will simply stretch out its 8-foot wingspan, catch the winds, and rise higher and higher.
An eagle can fly at heights that no other birds can fly. At some point, the crow will have to fall away. He cannot breathe at that altitude.
In the same way, we all have some crows in life—some chickens and turkeys, too—people that want to irritate us and get on our nerves and do things to try to bait us into conflict.
It is easy to get upset and try to straighten every crow out. But remember, you are an eagle. You can go up higher. You can fly where the crows cannot fly.
But if you stay down at their level, try to straighten out every crow and get involved in conflicts that do not matter, that will keep you from your destiny. The crows, the chickens, the turkeys—they are simply distractions.
When an eagle faces a storm, there is bad weather in its path. It does not bury its head and try to force its way through it, fight the wind, fight the rain, fight the thunder. Again, it catches the thermal winds and goes up higher until it is above all the turmoil.
Like the eagle, we all face storms. We all have difficulties. The key is to rise above all the turmoil. You do not have to fight your way through it. Do not let it get on the inside. Remain at rest, stay seated, and God will fight your battles.
Too often, we are fighting when we should be resting. We are standing when we should be sitting. And yes, I know we have to stand strong. I am talking about in your spirit.
Even when it is stormy all around you, things happening that you do not understand, you need to have a rest, knowing that God is still on the throne, that He is bigger than anything you are facing.
When you are an eagle, when you have learned to rise above the challenges, you will be at peace when you could be upset. You will have a smile when you could be discouraged. You are showing God that you trust Him. You are taking your seat.
Sometimes after a long day, I will be standing in my kitchen talking to Victoria and our children. We can talk for a long time. At some point, I will tell them, «I have to go get off my feet.» I know when I am done, when I need to sit down and relax.
Maybe today you need to get off your feet. You are living worried about your health and stressed over your finances, upset because that child still has not changed. Why do you not come back to a place of peace?
God has it all figured out. Those enemies you are concerned about, those obstacles—they are not going to stop you. They are going to become a footstool.
Instead of laboring to try to fix everything, I am asking you to labor to enter this rest. You were not created to carry the heavy burdens.
There is a seat of rest that has your name on it. You may have been standing for a long time, but God is saying, «Take your seat. Live from a place of rest. Work hard, do your best, but on the inside stay in peace.»
If you will do this, I believe and declare you are not only going to enjoy life more, but God is going to bring dreams to pass. Problems are about to turn around—health, wholeness, favor, victory, the fullness of your destiny in Jesus' name.