.
 A "HEART" TEST
 
By Vickie L. Evans
 
      Psalm 37:3-5

3)  Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 

 4) Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 5) Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
 
  
 Hey friends!  Greetings from the Queen City-Charlotte, North Carolina!  I am finally settling into place and adjusting to my new surroundings.  Moving to Charlotte has been one of my "heart desires" for several years.  You know, I have read and heard the above reference scriptures preached on numerous occasions and primarily the focus was on God giving us the "desires of our heart" however; how many of us focus on the pertinent phrases that precede and follow that statement: 1) Trusting in the Lord; 2) Delighting In the Lord; and 3) Committing our way to the Lord?  In other words, submitting and surrendering our heart to the Lord so that our desires line up with His desires.   

The relocation to Charlotte has been a very enlightening process.  I have experienced "joy and pain", "highs and lows", "set ups and setbacks", "build ups and break downs".  There was a period when I wanted to press the pause button on my life and just take a break.  This period of restructuring, revamping, and revitalization has been what I classify as a "heart test".  Some of you are inquiring right now, what in the world is a heart test?  Well, my definition of a "heart test" is when situations and circumstances occur that reveal your "true" passion and your "true desire".  It shows you who you really are and how you really will react when under pressure.  It will also reveal if you are a man or woman after "God's own heart" or are you ruled by your own emotion and self-driven passion.  For example, remember in Matthews 26, during the Lord's Supper when Jesus told the disciples that they would "fall away" or be scattered during his crucifixion and Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."?   And Jesus told him that before the roster crowed that night that he would disown him three times.  Peter response was that I would die first.  Peter had "heart" and passion.  However, later on in that chapter, Peter indeed disowned Jesus and at that revelation (the 75 verse); he wept bitterly. 
  
Yes, heart tests are HARD tests--because the things that you thought that you would not do, are the very things that you find yourself doing (the Apostle Paul said that so eloquently).  I utilize Vickie's Viewpoints as a vehicle of expression because I really love to write.  Some of the articles that I write (i.e. "The Turbulence of Life", sound so good on paper but what happens when the written illustrations leap off of the paper and become real life situations?    Sometimes it is more challenging to actually walk out what you just wrote (smile), when you come face-to-face with reality.  I stand here as a witness to Peter's dilemma that the things that you say sound good when you initially say it; and at  the time you say it--you may really mean it-but, the heart reveals something else.  That is why Proverbs 4:23 admonishes us to guard our hearts, because out of it flows the "issues" of life.  All of us have "issues of life".  Whether it be "relationship issues", "employment issues", "financial issues" or even "self-inflicted issues"--we all have issues!  When tested, we may have different ways of dealing with our issues.  Some tests we pass--some we do not!  
 
Before I reveal my personal heart test, I was reflecting on the overall process of taking a test.  Generally, we have a text book that has all the pertinent information concerning the particular subject that we are studying (The Bible -see Romans 15:4 and 2 Timothy 3:16).  Then, we have an instructor that teaches and re-emphasizes what is already in the book (A preacher - see Romans 10:14).  And then, we as students, study to prove - that we have sufficiently analyzed, interpreted, and learned the lessons (The exam - see 2 Timothy 2:15).  Do I have any witnesses that will admit that some tests are harder to pass than others?  The amount of information you retain determines the outcome of the test (i.e. 90-100% equates to an "A", 80-89% equates to a "B", 70-79% equates to a "C" and 60 - 69% equates to a "D".  Do I have any witnesses that will admit that although you studied long and hard-sometimes we do not retain enough pertinent information to pass the test?   That is when our "heart test" becomes a "hard test" when we fail.  That is when our emotion gets the best of us and we as Peter did--feel remorse, regret, guilt, shame, or we feel like a downright failure.   

At this juncture, I want to re-express a very integral point -- heart tests are usually based on or involve our "emotions".  Sometimes, our emotion can fool us; therefore it is not wise to be driven by our emotion.  Peter was emotional when he expressed that He would die before disowning Christ.  Yet, the revelation of his heart emotionally crippled him.  Footnote:  Jesus had already told Peter what he was going to do PRIOR to Peter committing the act-it was not a surprise to Jesus.  After the denial, Peter  felt unworthy, shame, and unfit to call himself a "disciple"!  In fact, after Jesus resurrection, (Mark 16)  the young man in the tomb specifically told Mary Magdalene to go tell the disciples and "Peter" that Jesus had risen.  He knew that Peter was beating himself up with guilt so he had to specifically identify him.  In addition, after His resurrection, Jesus had to  exclusively and specifically meet with Peter and asked him three times did He love Him and instructed Him to resume his discipleship duties.   Although we fail a test or two, or three, that does not make us a "failure".  It just means that we have to study much harder in order to pass the "make up" test the next time.   Do not repeat the mistakes of your past; learn from the previous test.  King David was described as "a man after God's own heart".  I believe that is because David learned from his mistakes and I have not read any accounts where he repeated the same offense again.  
There are some tests that appear to be so real that even the very elect, if it was possible, would be fooled.  Mark 13:22 states, "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect".  I wrote a chapter in my new book, Know Your Worth!  entitled, The Counterfeit (The Road block to the Real Thing).  Well, my move to Charlotte has brought me face-to-face with an even deeper revelation in this department.  I was met with a real live "seducing" spirit, who turned out to be a liar,  and a deceiver.  The surprise in all of this is that he introduced himself as a "minister".  He conducted himself as a minister-he had an in-depth knowledge of the Bible, and even "impressed" me through an "act" of worship.  He even came bearing roses.  He truly had me fooled; but in the end he turned out to be a "false" prophet.  Even his "name" was false.   Ladies, with the technological age and the popularity of on-line dating, I want to caution you to beware-there are some "wolves" posing in "sheep's" clothing -pretending to be men of God, but they are deceivers.   Guard your heart!  I did not meet him on-line but through a need for maintenance of my car.  Being new to Charlotte, I let down my defenses and unfortunately trusted the wrong person.  Driven by my desire for a relationship, my emotions got the best of me and I succumbed to this test.   During this test, I re-experienced every dragon that I had written about in my new book, "Know Your Worth! (Overcoming the Dragon of Low Self-Esteem)", to include sadness, anger, guilt, shame, discouragement, despair, depression, and fear.  At one point, I felt like I had made a grave mistake by moving to Charlotte.  Why would God allow me to come here to experience such a "heartbreaking" incident?  But what I discovered is that this incident prepared me for my assignment and clearly outlined by purpose.  You see I was going to promote my book based on the incidents that I experience in my past-my childhood and my past experiences; however, I have a fresh and "right now" perspective of the "dragon".        

Friends, we are in a constant battle.  Don't you think for one moment that you have completely "overcome" the enemy and begin to rest on your laurels, because he is coming back!  Luke 4: 13 states that when he tried to tempt Jesus in the Wilderness, that he departed  "for a season" , and the  Amplified version states that he (temporarily) "left Him" and "stood off from Him"  "until a more opportune and favorable time".  If He would not leave Jesus alone;  do you possibly think He would treat us any different?  Therefore, we need some "right now" tools to fight a "right now" enemy.  The cannons, guns, bayonets,  and ammunition  that soldiers used in previous wars (the Civil War, World Wars I and II) are antiquated, outdated, and inadequate to use for the nuclear and technically-advanced wars we are faced with today.  We must develop and utilize  more complex weaponry to deal with the new set of "imposters" that the enemy is now sending.  These chameleons are on a higher level-generals of deception and wickedness"-con artists at worst--new levels - new devils.  Therefore, we must seek avenues to overcome our emotion so that we can strategically and theologically "ace" the  heart tests.   Remember, failure is not an option!  We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.  Nothing can separate us from His Love.  He loves us unconditionally-even when we do not pass the test initially-we  can repent-and take a "make up" test.  I leave you with these closing scriptures:  James 1:2-4 , "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3) because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4) Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."(NIV)