Called To Reign

I can't remember how long ago it was, maybe a year ago or two when a friend of mine recommended the book "Called To Reign" by Leif Hetland. Every page resonated with me and challenged me to change my thinking and claim my identity once and for all.

The basic premise of this book is that there's three chairs any of us find ourselves in. The person sitting in chair three doesn't know Christ and lives their life as such. Someone sitting in chair two knows Christ, but is living in a state of doing and striving in order to become all God has called them to be. Chair one is where God calls us to be. In chair one we are sitting with Jesus and know who we are in Christ. The doing/serving Him flows from knowing who and whose we are.

Most of the world believes they have to do something in order to have something so they can be something. That is not how we were originally designed. In God’s design, we are something, so we have everything, and then can do anything.

Leif Hetland “Called To Reign”

This is all about identity. When we see ourselves the way God sees us, we can rest in Him. Out of that rest, we do the things He calls us to do. We don’t do it to be good enough. We do it out of love.

In the resting place, as I commune with a God who loves the world, I begin to love the way He loves, and then I can reign with Him as He reigns.

Leif Hetland “Called To Reign”

Much of my life was spent in chair two. I’ve loved the Lord since I was young. Back then chair two looked like doing all the things expected of me. I’d go to church and church groups, I was kind, usually helpful, and trying to do the right thing. I read my Bible, prayed, worshipped, and tried so hard to put into practice all I learned from all the teachings I was given. In all the striving I often wondered if I’d ever feel like I have arrived. Another way of putting it is I wondered if I’d ever feel good enough.

Even in my 30s and 40s I spent most of my time in chair two. In fact, most Christians do. For me, it looked like spending hours each week in Bible study, homiletics, and examining my life against what I was reading and being taught. It was all great stuff, and did draw me closer to the Lord. However, I was making all the changes in my life in my own power, and always feeling that if I did more it would finally be enough. Don’t get me wrong, God used that time to refine me, I was just missing a piece of the puzzle.

Before I even read this book, God has been speaking to me about this. I remember there came a point in my life when I saw all that I was doing and kinda feeling yuck about it. I had learned a ton about the Bible, was serving regularly, and raising my family to love Jesus, but God was beginning to show me where a religious pride was building up in my life. I didn't like it, but when I first recognized it, I wasn't sure what to do about it other than keep doing more of what I was doing.

Then God got my attention. My pride was demolished before my eyes when my teens were struggling with mental illness, and in turn my own faults became very apparent as I tried to put things all back together again. You see, in chair two I believed I was the one holding all the pieces of my family together. It was my prayers, me doing this and that. In chair two the weight of all of that fell on me. When things were going good, pride crept in. When things were going poorly, self-blame overtook me. In His grace, God uses all things for good. In this case, He led me on a journey of surrender, which ultimately led me to chair one.

---

I Have Been Called To Reign

In chair one, I sit with the Lord and rest in His presence. I breathe in His goodness, and breathe out the worries of the world. This is where the Lord reminds me I am His, surrounds me in His love, and gives me His confidence. Chair one begins with resting in the Lord.

Chair 1 represents the kingdom of God with the Holy Spirit resting on sons and daughters who see the face and hear the voice of their Father. When the spirit, soul, and body are in alignment in Chair 1, we can hear, see, and feel the Father. This is why Jesus said His sheep hear His voice (John 10:4, 16) In alignment, we are tuned to hear Him.... ...Chair 2 is the kingdom of self, controlled by what we feel and think. In Chair 2, with the soul as the dominating force, His voice is filtered through our mind, will, and emotions before getting into the spirit. God still speaks, but His voice is mixed in with every other thought and feeling we have."

Leif Hetland "Called To Reign"

Chair one is the perfect place to be. It's where the joy of the Lord leads and guides you to serve. And you serve out of who Christ made you to be and what He has called you to do. There is no stress involved, because you do out of a place of rest. I love to be in chair one, but like most people I slip back into chair two more often that I'd like to. Just like our gracious heavenly Father, in those times when I slip into chair 2 I give myself grace and slowly change chairs.

It takes time to surrender all the things, truly believe what God says about you is true, and move to chair one. Then there are also seasons when it's easy to slip into chair two. I'm in that season right now. One of my children is really struggling right now, and while I'm handing it to the Lord, I have a pinky hold on it and it's clouding my thinking. My chair two perspective is focused on the situation. Chair one perspective is an invitation to dream with God who gives abundant life.

My hope for you is that you will see yourself as God sees you, that you will slide into chair one and rest with the Lord, experiencing all that God has for you, and see everything change.

Purchase the book:

Called to Reign by Leif Hetland