Because Jesus Sits, I Can Stand
I vividly remember one of the lowest moments of my life. I was standing in a bathroom stall, breathing into a paper bag, and crying out inaudibly, “Jesus, help me.” I could hear my fellow seminary students light-heartedly laughing and visiting as they came in and out of the bathroom. The excitement of a new school year, a new opportunity to study God’s Word, buzzed even in the bathroom. But I was locked in a stall, breathing into a paper bag. It was the only way I could get my breathing under control again, recommended by my doctor, as mild panic attacks would strike at the most inconvenient times.
Other than death or divorce, my wife and I had experienced every major stressor in life in the weeks leading up to those moments. We had moved a thousand miles away from a loving home church and fruitful ministry into a sprawling metropolis where we knew nobody. Just before moving, we had lost most of the savings we had scraped together due to a major car repair. I had looked for work for months, only to have all my leads fall through just as we moved. Our first child was due in a few months. I ended up in the ER, unable to breathe normally, and to my surprise, they explained it was from a panic attack.
When they would hit, I would cry out to God, running to Jesus for help. I knew He was alive and active in heaven today, interceding for me. I knew that he could hear my cries and that he could actively help me. I couldn’t articulate it this way at the time, but I knew I could stand because Jesus was seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Pastoral ministry often means being in the middle of a crisis, leaving a crisis, or heading into a crisis. I don’t know what stressors you have been through recently, but I know this: because Jesus sits, you can stand.
The book of Hebrews puts great emphasis on Jesus being seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Five times, we read that he is seated, and five times, we find a reason that we can stand in both life and ministry.
I Can Stand Because the One Who Holds the Universe Together is the One Who Died for My Sins
We usually think too little of Jesus. But Hebrews reminds us of his preeminence: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” (Hebrews 1:3)
One of the great struggles I had when panic attacks first became a problem for me was guilt. I felt like I was letting God down by giving in to anxiety—and this only added to my anxiety. I would break down in tears: “I feel like I’m failing God.” I realized that instead of making my success in waging war against anxiety a marker of my relationship with God, I could run to Jesus for refuge.
Jesus is not only all-powerful but also all-loving towards those who belong to him.
I Can Stand Because Jesus’ Enemies Are My Enemies–And They Are All Defeated
God is defeating all of Jesus’ enemies, as prophesied in Psalm 110:1: “And to which of the angels has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?” (Hebrews 1:13) When I realize that all of Jesus’ enemies are my true enemies and that they are all defeated, this brings great comfort to my soul and peace to my mind and heart.
My biggest enemies—Satan, sin, and death—are all subjugated to my Lord, and that helps me to stand today. Just four months after being diagnosed with panic attacks, our first son was born—and complications kept my wife in the hospital for ten days. There was one moment when they wheeled her out for some urgent tests. I looked back in the hospital room and saw my mother holding our five-day-old son, and looked ahead and saw my unconscious wife. Fear gripped my heart. But anxiety did not, because I remembered that Jesus our Shepherd had walked through the valley of the shadow of death and come out a victor on the other side.
I Can Stand Because the Only One Who Can Bring Me to God Does So 24/7
Our final high priest will never die and never retire: “…he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:24-25) Jesus lives to bring you to God all day, every day. “Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 8:1)
Anxiety’s twin, depression, visited me briefly about one year later. I remember one especially emotionally painful walk at the park with my wife and little son. I was trying to explain to my wife how the darkness would sometimes just come over me when I suddenly felt paralyzed by fear. I wanted to be “normal” again. When would I come out of this valley? All I could articulate as we circled the walking path was that I knew God was holding onto me—but I didn’t feel it.
Even when the darkness visits us, even when we can’t explain it, even when we don’t know when it will end, we can rely on the fact that the Father always answers Jesus’ prayers and that Jesus is talking to the Father about our struggles today.
I Can Stand Because No Other Sacrifice Is Needed to Make Me Right with God
“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…” (Hebrews 10:11-12)
Jesus being both my final sacrifice and also my final mediator before God is a fact that has continued to help me in my battle with anxiety, almost two decades into pastoring. There have been times in ministry when the stress of conflict in the church has been overwhelming, and I have begun to feel shortness of breath again.
At this point, I have learned to pick up the weapons of the Word of God and prayer. Sometimes, I will ask my wife to pray for me. Many a night I have finally fallen asleep after the sharp sword thrust of a Psalm and a simple prayer defeated the warring thoughts in my head: “I believe—help my unbelief!”
This direct access to the Throne of God and this lifeline of God’s peace is possible only because my mediator is also my sacrifice. This truth also reminds me that I am not God. I am only human, and physical disciplines like exercise and rest help all humans—including pastors—deal with stress in a healthier way.
I Can Stand–and Continue to Stand–Because of Jesus’ Endurance for Me
I can endure (Hebrews 12:1) because Jesus endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Because Jesus sits, I can stand—and keep standing—facing each day, knowing he is mine. Whatever happens in pastoral ministry, you have a Savior who sits in triumph for you.
Your Savior and Shepherd hear you when you cry out, “Jesus help me!” It doesn’t matter if it is from a seminary bathroom during a panic attack, your office as you slog through the day, during an especially thorny counseling session or conflict, or your bedroom when you can’t sleep at night because of everything on your mind.
Because Jesus sits, you can stand.
©2024 Tim Counts. Used with permission.
About The Author

Tim Counts
Tim Counts is the pastor of Northshire Baptist Church in Manchester Center, Vt., and serves on the leadership team for Small Town Summits. He blogs regularly at He Must Become Greater.