The Personality Test | A Message by Katie Hauck

Good evening. How's everybody doing tonight? Good. My name is Katie Hawk. I'm a, hi, grateful believer in Jesus Christ. I'm excited to be here with you today. I'm excited for the correctional facilities who are joining us and those watching online. We're really glad to, to have you here tonight. Tonight, I want to give you a personality test. Okay. And don't worry, there are no wrong answers and you don't have to write anything down. I just want you to listen carefully because I believe by the end of tonight, you are going to know more about who you are. Okay. And I want to start by reading you a story in scripture. It's in Luke chapter eight, verses 22 through 39. Okay. It says one day, Jesus said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side of the lake. So they got into the boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him saying, master, master, we're going to drown. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters. The storm subsided and all was calm. Where's your faith? He asked the disciples. In fear and amazement, they asked one another, who is this? He commands even the wind and the wave and they obey him. They sailed to the region of Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon possessed man from the town. For a long time, this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice. What do you want with me? Jesus, son of the most high God, I beg you, don't torture me. For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it seized him and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places. Jesus asked him, what is your name? Legion, he replied, because many demons had gone into him and they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When those tending the pigs saw what happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus's feet, dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of Gerasenes asked Jesus

to leave them because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away saying, return home and tell how much God has done for you. So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. So this is a beautiful passage in scripture. I love it and the Lord showed me one time when I was reading it that there are four different types of people described in this passage. And I want to break those four types of people down today. And while I'm doing that, I want you to be thinking, who are you most like? Which one of these people do you most relate to? Okay. All right. So Jesus had chosen his disciples about a year before this story takes place. He had done 11 recorded miracles so far. He had turned water into wine, healed a paralytic, cleansed a man with leprosy, and raised a man from the dead. So here are his disciples. They are pursuing him. They are following him. They are being obedient and they are trying to do exactly what he has called them to do. So Jesus tells them, let's go to the other side of this lake. Now that was about five miles across. While they're crossing a storm comes. Now listen, these disciples, many of them are experienced fishermen. Okay. They had been through storms before while on the lake, but there was something about this storm that must have been different because they were terrified. Okay. They were absolutely scared. Things were not going the way that they expected them to go. And in their minds, I'm sure they thought, well, we're following Jesus. We're just going to get in the boat and just get to the other side. And it's just going to work out just like that. Right. But they didn't expect that there was going to be an interruption. They didn't expect that they would have to go through a storm. They didn't think that it was going to be hard. And I wonder how, how many times we've been that like that in life where God calls us somewhere or he calls us to something, but it's not quite working out the way that we thought it would. It's different than what we expected. Right. About, about 10 years ago, the Lord spoke to me and told, told me, Katie, you're going to be a speaker. And I was like, that's funny. No, I'm not right. Absolutely not. And, uh, and I told God, well, you're going to have to do this because I can't do that on my own. And the Lord spoke to me and told me, you know, he never wants us to do things on our own, does he? But he, uh, He told me I was going to speak so I started trying to be obedient and I wasn't ready to speak yet So I started just jumping into other ideas that I had right. I started a blog but nobody read it I started a Bible study. Nobody came to it. I started a YouTube channel. Nobody watched the videos

I started a class nobody showed up right and this went on and on for years and then one day I'm sitting in church and The Lord said I'm ready I'm ready for you to speak and I literally laughed out loud and I was like I don't think so and God said again, it's time and I began arguing with God about how ridiculous that sounded because to me To be honest, I was afraid of people and talking in front of people was terrifying, right? It wasn't what I expected to do in my life And so the Lord started speaking to me I started writing and my hand was writing as fast as I could possibly write I just wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote all the things That I had tried that didn't work out and when I got done writing I looked down and I saw the list and I was like Cool God. Thanks for reminding me of all my failures, right? And he gently and lovingly explained to me Katie that time you wrote a blog I was teaching you how to write and that time you started a Bible study I was teaching you how to study my word and that time you were making videos I was teaching you how to share your faith and that time you taught a class I was teaching you how to speak and I used each and every one of those things that you thought was a failure to get You where I needed you to be because I have a plan for your life that will glorify me He was teaching me through those hard things and through those trials how to trust him Just like he was trying to teach the disciples through their storm how to trust him You know, Jesus wasn't worried about a storm He told them we're going to the other side, but you know what? He didn't tell him He didn't tell him how he didn't tell him why he didn't tell him that it was gonna be easy He just said go and he expected them to go It was his plan and what they needed to do was be obedient and trust him notice He also didn't say let's try to get to the other side He knew that they were going to make it despite any storm He was sound asleep, but the disciples were afraid and they're wondering how can Jesus sleep through this? Doesn't he know what we're going through? It didn't make sense to them It wasn't going the way that they thought it would go so they woke him up and I think they're a little bit dramatic they're like Jesus we're dying and he stands up and he rebukes the wind and the waves and he says where is your faith and

the disciples afraid Said who is this? They struggled to believe who he was even after everything They had seen him do and I wonder sometimes if this is you Maybe you're pursuing God intentionally like the disciples Maybe you've been following him and serving him and giving so much of your time to him and you're trying so hard to be obedient But things aren't happening the way that you thought they would happen things don't look fruitful or you feel like giving up or you're doubting that he's gonna use you in the way that you thought and You aren't really sure where he wants you to go or what he wants you to be doing and your faith is starting to waver So if that's you we're gonna call you Uncertain When Jesus and his disciples get across the lake the moment they step ashore there's a demon-possessed man This man runs to him. He cries out. He falls at his feet and begs Jesus not to hurt him This man is in bondage. He's alone He's been rejected by his family and his friends and he's being tortured by his illness He is possessed now some people in here might be thinking well that can't be me. I'm sick. I'm sick People in here might be thinking well that can't be me. I'm saved a saved person can't be possessed Okay, but they can be oppressed You see I had a dad that proved this to me He was a wonderful man But he lived his entire life with mental health issues or at least his adult life when I knew him He had anxiety attacks and fear so powerful. He couldn't leave our home at times He was diagnosed with a disease called agoraphobia in 2013 my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and given three months to live and When he found that out He immediately let me know that he believed in God and he believed in Jesus even though our family had never spoken about faith or God The next three months of his life were really challenging I spent a lot of time with my dad at the hospital and I would sit I was a believer So I would talk to him and I would pray over him and one day he looked at me with tears in his eyes And he said Katie. I'm so glad you're going to heaven even though I'm not

And I said what dad what do you what do you mean you mean you're not going to heaven and he told me a story You see when my dad was younger He had gone to prison and I knew this I'd heard that story many times in my life My dad told it in the hopes that I wouldn't make the same bad decisions that he made, right? But while he was there, he went blind completely blind. No, no one could figure out what caused it No one could figure out how to give him his sight back. Okay, and he was in a max security prison So for his safety, they put him in solitary confinement And like I said, my dad had some issues and he became very claustrophobic and he started freaking out and he was crying out to God every day. God, give me my sight back, give me my sight back, give me my sight back. And his sight was not given back to him. And one day in desperation, he cried out to Satan. And he said, if you give me my sight back, I'll sell you my soul. And do you know what happened? My dad got his sight back. He told me he tried his whole life to make up for that decision by being good. He did every good thing that he can. He turned into an amazing man who followed every rule and did everything right. But he said, I know I didn't do enough. I know I wasn't good enough to get into heaven. And I said, well, dad, you're right. You weren't good enough to get into heaven. But thankfully you don't have to be. And I read him some verses like John 3, 16 and 17

that said, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn his son or condemn the world but to save the world through him. In Romans 8, one and two, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. My dad's sin was not bigger or more powerful than Jesus Christ because the blood of Jesus can cover any sin. And through faith in Jesus, my dad could be forgiven. He was so excited. He accepted that gift right there in the hospital. And I'm thankful because I know that one day I will see my dad in heaven. Now about 10 years went by and I was praying one day. It was the anniversary of my dad's death, Christmas Eve. And I was praying and I was just thinking about him and I was just thankful. And I was praising God for my dad's salvation. And I said, God, thank you so much that my dad did not sell his soul to the devil. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, whoa, whoa, whoa, Katie,

your dad did sell his soul to the devil. And I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa to you, Holy Spirit. I know my dad is in heaven, right? And the Holy Spirit said, oh yeah, no, your dad is in heaven. I said he sold his soul. I didn't say he sold his spirit. You see, we as humans are created in God's image. God has three parts, right? Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because we were created in his image, Genesis 126, we are also three part. We are body, soul, and spirit. This body is what we use to get around this earth on who we are as a spirit. Our spirit goes to heaven or hell, right? But we have a soul. And our soul is our mind, our will, and our emotions. My dad's spirit was sealed and his spirit went to heaven, but my dad gave his soul over to the enemy. He gave him his mind, he gave him his will, he gave him his emotions. He lived a life of shame and fear and anxiety and depression. He was oppressed by demonic spirits. And what Jesus did for the demon-possessed man in this scripture, he wanted to do for my dad. And he wants to do it for you. So maybe this is who you are tonight. You want to pursue God, but you are living in chaos and you are dealing with trauma

and you are afraid and you are anxious. Maybe you're feeling ashamed and guilty and unworthy or you're feeling alone or you're dealing with an illness that has taken over your life and you desperately need a touch from the Lord to bring you out of the darkness that you're living in. If that's you, we're gonna call you broken. When Jesus healed the man and cast the demons into the pigs, those tending the pigs saw what happened. They went and told the people of the town. The people of the town were interested and they came to see Jesus. They wanted to know what he was all about. So they found him and they saw how he had healed the demon-possessed man and they listened to the story of how it happened and then they became overwhelmed with fear and asked Jesus to leave. Fear, not excitement, not joy, not hope, not a desire to follow him deeper, fear. Guys, sometimes it's scary to think about giving up everything to follow the Lord. Sometimes it's scary to think about giving up one tiny little thing. One of my favorite stories I've ever heard was from a pastor and he would go to this diner every single week, the same diner, and he had the same server every single week and every week he would invite her to church and every week she would turn him down and one day he was like, why don't you just come to church?

And she said, well, here's the thing. I like to go to the club. I like to go dancing and I know that church people aren't allowed to go to the club. And he said, no, no, no, no, you can go to the club and come to church. church? It's fine. And she said, really? I didn't know that because I'm not going to give up the club. And he said, absolutely, go to the club, just come to church. So she came. Well, he was traveling and doing some traveling preaching, and he didn't see her for a couple months. And he came back one day and sat at his favorite spot. And she came up to him and she said, Pastor, you tricked me. And he said, what do you mean? And she said, you told me I could keep going to the club and go to church. And he said, well, you can. And she goes, yeah, but you didn't tell me I wouldn't want to anymore. You see, once we accept the fact that Jesus saved, delivered, and healed us like he did for the demon-possessed man, we begin the journey of sanctification. This is the process of being free, the process of being purified. It is the process of changing our desires and our behaviors. It means that you have been set apart for God's special plan. And when you begin to seek him, he will slowly turn you in to who he wants you to be. And as we walk that journey, we begin to look more and more like Jesus. We begin to follow him more closely. We begin to trust him to guide our steps. But it can be hard and it can definitely be scary. I've been following him for a lot of years now. And my husband recently said to me, Katie, are you willing to give everything to the Lord? And I said, absolutely. And he said, are you willing to tell the Lord he can take whatever he wants from your life? And I was like, well, I'm going to think about that one for a minute. Because it's much harder to give up some things, right? Because I want control. I want to know the future. I want to decide who, what, where, when, and how. I want it my way and I want it my timing. Because following him and giving him complete control, that's a scary thing. And for some people, it's so scary, it causes them to run away from God. To return to their old lives and to ask him not to come back, like the men in the story. So maybe this is you. You pursued God a little, but you aren't really sure you want to go deeper. You're afraid. Afraid to surrender everything to the Lord. Afraid to take another step. Afraid to give something up. You want control. You're comfortable where you are. Maybe you don't understand why the Lord

needs more of you. You're content. You know it will be hard to follow him at a deeper level. If that's you, we're going to call you hesitant. When the people of the town asked Jesus to leave, he did. He got into his boat. The man who was healed begged Jesus to go with him and his disciples. I think he was excited. He wanted to tell the world what happened to him. How many of you have a story? How many of you want to do something radical for God? How many of you look at what someone else is doing for the Lord and think, I want to do that? Right? This man wanted to give up everything for Jesus, just like Jesus' disciples did. And that seems like a good thing. But Jesus told him no. Jesus said, go back where you came from. Go home and tell those people. Jesus had a different path for him. And I wonder, does he have a different path for you? If he does, maybe that disappoints you a little. I once heard a story about these three people, and they're standing before God, giving an account of their lives. And the first man thought that he had lived a really successful life. He had a good career helping churches with their financing. But when he stood before God, God said, I actually called you to reach thousands of people in Asia, but you never pursued me to discover what that calling was. The second man, he had pastored a church for 35 years, and he thought, wow, I have done great things for God. But God said, I actually called you to the workplace. You would have discipled two women. And through those two women, millions of people would have been changed. And then a woman stepped forward, and she said, Lord, I didn't do very much. I just raised my three kids the best that I could. And the Lord said, this is exactly what I called you to do. And through your three children, over a million lives will be impacted, because sometimes the most powerful calling is not the biggest calling, right? It's the one where you simply do what God has asked you to do, because God is not measuring your life by how big it looks, by how great it seems. He's measuring it by how faithful you were with whatever he gave you. Guys, I'm not a scientist. To be honest, I barely passed science class, okay? But I read that our bodies are made of trillions of cells, each one with their own structure and function. Each one carries out a specific task. Every single cell has a specific part to play, and they can't all do the same job, or our bodies wouldn't function. What does the Bible tell us? The church is a body, right? The church is a body with cells, and we are those cells. Each one of us has our own function. Each one of us has a specific task that we are called to carry out.

Each one of us has a part to play and we can't all do the same job or the church body wouldn't function properly. So the path for your life is not the same as the path for someone else's. No two paths look exactly the same. And God's ways are not our ways, they're so much better. Because his plan for your life is better than your plan. It is good, I promise you that. It just might not look how you hoped. So maybe this is you, you're pursuing God and you want to share everything that you're learning. You are excited about showing others what he's done in your life. You wanna serve God in a big way and do something amazing. You wanna travel the world. You wanna become a missionary. You wanna speak in front of thousands of people. You wanna write a book. But the Lord is telling you to slow down. He's telling you he needs you to serve right where you are for now. He's telling you to be faithful in the small things that maybe you're frustrated and you feel like you're wasting your time. So that's what we're gonna call you frustrated. So which one of these people best describes you? I want you to think about it. I want you to hold on to that for a second. I wanna ask you how many of you

have ever done a personality test? Have you guys ever done the Myers-Briggs? I'm an E-N-F-J, okay? The Enneagram? I'm an eight on the Enneagram, okay. What about a quiz like what type of car are you? Or what animal best describes your personality? Okay, these are fun little quizzes that you can take online. My kids do them, it's fun. But did you know that psychologists say that the real reason people take personality tests is because they're searching for their identities. They want to figure out who they are, the reasons that they act the way that they do, how to bond with others who act in a similar way. But here's the thing I wanna tell you tonight. Your identity cannot be found in a test. Your identity can only be found in Jesus Christ, right? So this person that you believe that you are uncertain, broken, hesitant, frustrated, this is not your identity. This is your season. And to be honest, most of us have walked through all four of these seasons at some point in our lives. Your identity, your true identity can only be found when you recognize that you were uniquely, wonderfully created with a purpose. You have to know how God sees you. You have to know who you are. You need to know that when God looks at you,

he calls you a precious son or daughter. He calls you chosen, redeemed, forgiven. He calls you delivered, loved, worthy, accepted, good, holy, faithful, called, victorious, powerful, safe, blessed. He says you are free, you are important, you are unique, you are gifted, and you are his treasured possession. Your feelings do not determine who you are. God's word determines who you are. But I know what some of you are thinking, that's great, I've read that, I know what God's word says, but I don't feel like that, and I sure don't look like what God says, so I don't know how to believe that this isn't my identity. Because sometimes our feelings can feel so real and so convincing that it's hard to imagine that they could be wrong. Now, I actually taught this message at a women's conference once, and I did this demonstration, and I've done it many, many, many times just at home testing it out with different people, okay? And I don't have time to do it, I really wanted to, but I don't have time to do it in front of you today, so I'm just gonna tell you about it. I want you to picture this for a minute. What I do is I bring someone up on stage and I sit them in an office chair, and then I blindfold them so they can't see anything,

and I hand them a microphone, and I tell them when the chair stops spinning, just shout into the microphone that it stopped. And then I grab the chair and I spin it as hard and as fast as I can, okay? And we sit there and we watch the chair spin, and we watch it start to slow down, and all of a sudden, every single time, the person in the chair shouts, it stopped! Yet everyone in the audience can see it's still moving. Every single time. You see, something happens to our brains when we spin. The balance system in our inner ear gets confused, and it tricks us into thinking we've stopped moving when we actually haven't. So the person in the chair, there. absolutely convinced that they are speaking truth, that that chair stopped moving. But their feelings don't match reality. And this is exactly what the enemy does to us. He blindfolds us so we can't see the truth. Then he spins our lives with pain and trauma and fear and addiction and shame until we don't know which way is up anymore. And then he whispers things like, you're broken, you're too far gone, nobody cares about you, you'll never change. And because of the things that we've been through, those lies begin to feel true. But just because something feels true

does not mean it is true. God's word is the only thing in this world that tells us what is actually true about who we are. So if you called yourself uncertain, I want you to know that God says you are determined. And I believe that by faith, you should start calling yourself. And you should begin to confess that you are loyal and you are obedient and you will never give up and you are going to disciple others and show them how to be faithful. And if you called yourself broken, I want you to know that God says that you are healed. And I believe that by faith, you should start calling yourself that. I want you to confess that you have been delivered and you have been restored and you are going to help lead others out of darkness. And if you called yourself hesitant, then I want you to know God says that you are brave. And I believe by faith, you should start calling yourself that. Confess that you are a servant and you are selfless and you are going to do big, bold things for God's kingdom. And if you called yourself frustrated, God says that you are trusting. And I believe by faith, you should start calling yourself that. And I want you to start confessing that you are a giver and you are patient and you are going to create a ripple

that affects generations. Because when God looks at you, that's who he already sees. Even if you don't feel like it yet, even if you don't look like it yet, that is who he sees when he looks at you. What you need to do is learn to see yourself the same way that he sees you. Because when you know your identity, when you really, truly know your real identity, it changes everything. It defines your worth. It changes your perspective. It establishes your purpose. It releases your fear. It overcomes your comparisons. It transforms your thoughts and behaviors. Guys, you have to know who you are and you will not find that in a test. You will only find it in God's word. So how do you start? Romans 10, 17 says, "'Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.'" I believe that faith comes by hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing and hearing the word of God, okay? So you have to read your Bible, okay? Pick it up, open it up, start reading it and read it out loud and then find that one verse that defines who you are, that you are struggling to believe

and write it down and speak it out every single day and say, this is who I am, not because I feel like it, but because that's what faith looks like. So if you came in tonight thinking we were gonna do a personality test, it was, but it's not a test to discover who you are according to your feelings. It's a test to remind you of who you are in Christ because sometimes we label ourselves by what we feel. We label ourselves uncertain, broken, hesitant, frustrated, but those labels were never your identity. God has already given you your true identity and it's found again in Jesus Christ. So the real question tonight is not which personality type am I, it's will I believe what God says about me? Lord, thank you so much for every person who walked into this room tonight. Thank you, Lord, that they are going to discover who they are, Lord God. I pray that whatever season they're in, Lord, that they feel you, that they feel your arms wrapped around them, that they know, Lord, that they are valuable to you, that when they look in the mirror, they begin to see themselves the way that you see them. Lord, and like the demon-possessed man in the scripture, Lord, you sent Jesus and his disciples all the way over there for one. And I know, Lord, that that one

is sitting in this room tonight, Lord, and you are gonna do whatever you can to reach them, that you are gonna send whoever you need to send, or maybe, Lord, there's someone in this room that you're gonna use to reach the one, because I know that you left the 99 for the one that you care about that one deeply. Lord, I know that every person in here has a purpose and a calling on their lives. Lord, begin to use them in the way. Help them to trust you, Lord. Help them to know who they are. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and grace when we fail. Thank you when we claim these things over our lives and give ourselves those labels that you don't look at that, that you look at who we're going to be. God, we love you, and we praise you, and we thank you, and we give you all the glory, and all the praise, and all the honor. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.