God does not see our appearance but scrutinizes our interior. Therefore, he is testing the hearts of each one of his children, placing tests that they must pass in victory to verify if his faith is unshakable. As the word states: “Every way of a man is right in his own opinion; But Jehovah weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2)
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So the Lord weighs hearts and his balance is perfect and exact. All thoughts, words, plans, projects, goals are on the scales of the Lord, and therefore he cannot be deceived.
Testing Hearts – How Does God Work?
The Lord is constantly testing the hearts of his children in each of the decisions he makes, in his actions, ministries, projects, within his home, at work. For this reason we are being tested in every aspect of our daily lives.
The tribulations that we have to go through at certain times in our lives are part of those tests that God places on us to test our faith and fidelity to him.
Many times there are people who are very self-sacrificing in the service of the Lord but they allow themselves to be carried away by pride and believe they are better than others, they monopolize the ministries and take over everything, without letting others participate in the work of the Lord.
But God searches the hearts and tests us at all times, to see if we let the ego take over our life and try to take away the place that belongs to God. As his word states:
“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the thoughts, to give to each one according to his ways, according to the fruit of his works” (Jeremiah 17:10)
In this sense, when God places tests we must deal with discouragement, sadness, anguish, and we must trust that God is there to sustain and strengthen us. After a test comes the blessing but we must truly believe in the purpose that God.
However, God not only places us in situations of great tribulation, but also tests us when we are prosperous, when we are successful. And this turns out to be one of the tests in which most have failed.
This happens in the case of many preachers, whose message has deviated from the main objective, which is that of salvation. The messages that are heard today are those that speak of material wealth, prosperity and abundance.
But they do not address the most important issue, which is that of salvation, of true repentance, of leaving the carnal to get closer to the spiritual. In this way, they are out of focus, they have crowds in the churches but the presence of the Lord is not there. In this regard, the word exhorts us as follows:
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, and he who loves abundance will not be satisfied with profit. This too is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10)
This quote shows us that the person who has will always want to have more and nothing will be enough. He will be carried away by the desires of the flesh and will undoubtedly turn away from God.
Money is not bad, since thanks to it we can cover our needs for food, housing, studies, clothing, among others. But the love of money is bad because our love must be focused on God, who is the one who provides us with everything we need.
On the other hand, the great difficulties in our lives, in our home, with our loved ones, in religious thought, in our projects, goals, studies, work, are also tests that the Lord places on us.
It is in these adverse circumstances that a person’s heart can truly be determined, when we really know what the person is like. And this is when God tests our faith and weighs our hearts with his scales.
In the same way, the truth is another of the tests that God places on us. In the Bible we can see how many abandoned Jesus when he spoke of the truth and preached his sound doctrine. Many did not believe in his miracles, prodigies and wonders from him. Others had a hard time believing that he could walk on water, even Thomas had to feel the teacher’s wounds to confirm that it was really Jesus.
In this way, hearts are heavy for the Lord according to his way of dealing with the truth, which is unshakable. So when they reject the word, they reject the truth and for that they are damned, if they don’t repent from the heart.
When hearts are heavy for the Lord
Hearts are heavy for God when there is something in this world that is tying them, and that is why we must know what situation we are in to retract our actions and ask God to cleanse us and keep us from everything bad.
In this regard, the word exhorts us as follows: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and wicked; who will know him? (Jeremiah: 17:9)
That is why we must not be guided by the heart, by emotions, we must always ask God for direction. Within the hearts that must be weighed we find the following:
- The hypocritical heart: that shows something that is not really. He lives on appearances and the comments of others.
- The cowardly heart: It does not have the ability to make decisions. He does not dare to do the things that God demands of him.
- The perverse heart: It is immersed in sin, it is rebellious and always wants to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.
In the same way we find hearts that are pleasing to the Lord because they trust him and are willing to do his will. They are willing to serve and do God’s work on earth, plant a ministry and proclaim the good news, always in communion with our Heavenly Father. Within these hearts we find:
- The trembling heart: He is scourged, he is afraid of committing a sin against God. It’s wise.
- The tender heart: It is a sensitive, sentimental and affectionate heart.
- The broken heart: It is one who feels sorry for his sin, is humble because he accepts his mistakes.
- The pure heart: Love what is good and clean, regret your sin and that of others. He always yearns for holiness.
- The firm heart: this heart is firm and remains fixed in its purposes with the Lord. It is immutable.
In this sense, we must analyze and reflect on how our heart is, if it is apt to be weighed by God, what kind of heart we have and if we are prepared to accept the tests that God places on us.
It is important that every believer have a clean and pleasing heart for God because what is in our heart will determine our life.
That is why God puts us tests, in which we must learn lessons that will help us keep our hearts pure, clean, firm, broken, without evil and with the greatest disposition to do the will of our God.
God tests Abraham’s heart
In the Holy Scriptures we can appreciate different stories in which God tests the hearts of his children. One of the most relevant is the case of Abraham, since he was attributed a very difficult test to face.
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However, he never doubted the faithfulness of the Lord, and he was always willing to do his will. As we can see in the book of Genesis 22:2: “And he said: Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you about.”
In this quote, God’s mandate was very specific, he had to sacrifice his only son as a sign of obedience. Abraham just carried out God’s commands without question:
“And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and put it on Isaac his son, and he took the fire and the knife in his hand; and they went together” (Genesis 22:6)
This fact shows us that the Lord will always ask us for what we love most, not with the aim of taking it away from us, not to harm us, but to test our hearts and to measure the trust and faith we have in God.
In the case of Abraham, he asked for his son, but Jesus Christ had to die for each one of us. In this way, God will test your heart in a particular way, since each case is different and has a purpose within the Lord’s plans.
Currently, there is a lot of idolatry towards material goods and the spiritual aspect has been forgotten. The churches have focused mostly on giving messages of prosperity and abundance, forgetting the sound doctrine of Christ that speaks of humility, repentance and salvation, which is the main theme in the life of every Christian, which must be preached in all nations, in order to save lost souls.
So it is time to reflect on the disposition we have towards God and if we are currently doing the will of our heavenly father, or are we acting on our own without asking God for direction.
How many could do something like Abraham, how many would be willing to leave everything for the work of Christ, how many could make a true pact with him. It is time to seek God first and not focus on material things that are temporary.
In the story of Abraham, his son Isaac represents that which is precious, to which we have dedicated our time and effort and which in a way is substituting the place of the Lord in our lives.
In this way, everything that God gives us on this earth is to glorify his name, and therefore we must not forget that purpose, since there could be consequences. So if you have a gift, you must put it at the service of God, if you have children, they must worship God and serve him.
In this sense, it is essential not to get lost in the superficial, in the routine, in the eagerness, and we must also try to moderate ourselves when it comes to material goods, since being humble shows that you are a true child of God. In this regard, the word exhorts us as follows:
“Not looking at things that are seen, but at things that are not seen; For things that are seen are temporary, but things that are not seen are eternal.” (Corinthians 4:18)
The things we see are palpable and necessary in a way. God provides us with everything, a house, food, certain tastes, which is not bad, since as children of God we can enjoy the blessings that God gives us. But we must not lose the center of our life which is Christ.
He is the only one who gives meaning to all things, he is the one who multiplies, who provides, who gives us health, life, joy. He is responsible for our joy and all our joy, but these things cannot replace God, his presence, his love, his anointing.
For this reason we must first seek God, read his word, pray, watch, fast, adore and praise God at all times. If we forget the giver of all things, our hearts will weaken and the Lord will act according to his divine justice. Therefore we must do what the word demands of us:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, and where thieves do not break in or steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
The word exhorts us to seek the kingdom of God above all things, since by seeking him first, everything…