TESTING OUR HEARTS

1 Kings 9:1-10:29; Acts 8:14-40; Psalm 130:1-8; Proverbs 17:2-3

“When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions…. When she met with Solomon, she talked with him about everything she had on her mind. Solomon had answers for all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.”

“Philip asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ The man replied, ‘How can I, unless someone instructs me?’ And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him…. So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.”

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”

I am ashamed to say it, but my first reaction to the Lord’s challenges is usually rejection. Or feigned confusion. Or anything else that has any chance of getting me out of the fear the call inspires. I am what one would call risk-adverse. Yet as I’ve said before, when I doubt myself in such situations, I actually doubt the Spirit in me.

This weekend, I was blessed to hear testimony from a Costa Rican missionary who quite literally bet his life on Christ. He spoke entirely in Spanish (through a translator) and took boldness and courage to a whole new level. We did not need to understand his words to know his heart or his passion. He talked unflinchingly of the drug culture, warlords and abject poverty which surrounded him, and of the seemingly impossible Spirit directive to feed hundreds of starving children in the area. He himself had nothing to eat and no money. Nevertheless, with little other than inspiration and the Lord on his side, this man challenged the local people to sacrifice out of their own poverty so the kids could eat. He got in their faces. He badgered them. He preached to them. But most of all, he loved Christ. And the people responded. His own children were the first to sacrifice a meal, but others followed their example. Soon, dozens of children were getting much-needed nourishment. As the pain in their bellies subsided, their hearts, and those of their parents, opened to the Spirit, leading to much healing, reconciliation and rebirth in Christ. As the missionary exhorted us, sometimes, Jesus wants us to be uncomfortable, because He wants to know our hearts and not just our heads. Grace under pressure is the only grace that sustains and preserves. The missionary could have become bitter and frustrated at the enormity of the task before him. Instead, he chose to simply trust and be obedient to God. He understood the problems were not his; they were God’s. He trusted God to work them out, and so He did.

The Spirit thrives in the uncomfortable because only in the uncomfortable do we confront the limits of our own capability and strength. That I know I usually see and hear Christ best when I am uncomfortable is more than a little disconcerting, but it does little to change my attitude about discomfort. I get that the Spirit uses unease to get my attention. That doesn’t mean I accept it gracefully or gratefully. But when the Father asks about the condition of my heart, all my impatience and frustration comes crashing down. I sit or kneel in private, ashamed and humbled by my selfishness, wondering if my health and prosperity are blessings or barriers to God.

Jehovah’s ways are not our ways. Neither are His thoughts ours. He values what we discard. He elevates the weak and destroys the strong. Mainly, though, Christ judges not as we judge. People see celebrity, criminality, charity, lies and truth, but only God can judge the heart. He does so by judging what comes out of a man, not what goes in. All the head knowledge and emotional spirituality in the world can bring us no closer to Jesus. Not, at least, until we come to own it by relying on it and actually applying it. Philip obeyed the unusual call of God to walk beside the eunuch’s carriage, and a soul was saved. Only in obedience was Philip given the chance to share what he knew of Christ in a way that mattered. It was no good waiting for would-be converts to approach. The Lord wanted Philip to actually live his faith before he presumed to share it with others.  

The Queen of Sheba knew words and intellect alone won’t save anyone if they have not first been tested and found true in the school of everyday life. She came to test Solomon’s knowledge, but also to test his heart in the application of that wisdom. Only when our faith and courage can be maintained in the face of the “tough” questions and situations can we claim a heart worthy of God.