The Seat God Never Asked You to Occupy

“So then, let us [who minister] be regarded as servants of Christ and stewards (trustees, administrators) of the mysteries of God [that He chooses to reveal].” 1 Cor.4:1 (AMP)

Dear Oikonomos (Steward),

Have you ever asked God where He was, only to later realize that perhaps He had not moved? I have been thinking about David’s words in Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” There is something painfully human about that question because, if we are honest, many of us have asked it in one form or another. Where are You? Why are You silent? Why am I carrying this alone?

I wonder how often we ask those same questions in business and leadership. God, where are You in this decision? Where are You in this pressure? Where are You in this business? Where are You now that everything feels heavier than I thought it would? But recently another question came to me: What if God has not left the room? What if we moved into a seat He never asked us to occupy?

There is a difference, because stewardship has boundaries. A steward is entrusted with something, but a steward is never the owner. And yet somewhere between receiving the assignment and carrying the responsibility, it is easy to forget that. We begin to believe everything depends on us. The business must survive because of us. The team must succeed because of us. The opportunity must work because of us. The vision must come to pass because of us. We pray but still carry the weight as though the final outcome rests entirely on our shoulders.

Perhaps that is where the seat changes.

God may still be present, but somewhere along the way we moved from steward to source, from administrator to owner, from obedience to control. And then we become exhausted carrying a responsibility that was never designed to sit fully on us.

Now, I am not saying every difficult season means we are out of position. David’s question itself reminds us that faithful people can experience moments when God feels painfully distant. There are seasons we will not understand and silences we cannot explain. But I do think there are moments when “God, where are You?” deserves another question beside it: God, where am I?

Am I still standing where You positioned me? Am I working on what You entrusted to me, or have I picked up things You never gave me? Am I stewarding the business, or have I begun to believe I am responsible for sustaining it? Am I asking You for direction, or am I asking You to support a direction I already chose?

It’s possible to say God is CEO and still make every meaningful decision without Him. It is possible to pray over a business while running it as though it belongs entirely to us. It is possible to build for God while slowly forgetting how to build with God.

Maybe the heaviness is not always because He has abandoned us. Maybe sometimes we are sitting in the seat of ownership while asking the Owner why He feels so far away.

And perhaps the invitation is not to work harder or do more. Perhaps it is simply to move. To return to the seat of the steward and remember that I am responsible for obedience, I am responsible for stewardship, and I am responsible for what He has placed in my hands, but I was never asked to become the source. That seat already belongs to Someone else.

So today, Oikonomos, perhaps the question is not only “God, where are You?” Perhaps it is also “What seat am I sitting in?”

This question is also at the heart of my book The Kingdom C-Suite and the conversations we will be having during the Beyond the Book Virtual Tour. We are going beyond the pages of the book to explore what it really means to put God in His rightful place in our businesses and leadership, and what changes when we stop simply saying He is CEO and begin operating as though He truly is.

The virtual tour begins September 22, and registration is now open. You can join us at www.camillebabin.com/beyondthebook.

May you continue to see beyond the visible and steward what truly matters.

Camille