Tired of Trials? Maybe You Are Being Sifted...

Luke 22:31-32  "Simon, Simon. Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

This interaction between Jesus and Simon happened just before Jesus was arrested. Why would Jesus allow Satan to sift Simon (Peter)? Let's first look at what sifting entails.... (I pasted part of the article below http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4925686_farmers-sift-wheat.html)

Manual Threshing

Manual threshing

The first step in process of sifting wheat is to loosen the chaff from the edible grain, which is called threshing. The old fashioned way to do this is to spread the wheat onto a floor made from stone, concrete or tamped earth and to beat it with a flail. This is no longer done in the developed world, but in some places where machines are expensive and human labor is not, manual threshing is still common.

Winnowing

The next step is called winnowing, where the loosened chaff is removed from the grain. The old fashioned way of doing this was to throw the grain in the air, where the lighter chaff would be blown off by even a decent breeze. The heavier grains would fall back to the ground below where they were thrown.

 

The process of sifting wheat would be violent and painful, if you were the wheat - as Peter was. Jesus allowed Peter to be sifted because of the end result. Once the wheat was sifted only the desirable grain remained. Sifting is a purification process. The unrefined wheat is threshed, beaten against a hard surface until it is broken and easily separated from the chaff and grain. The winnowing allowed the chaff to be permanently separated from the grain. By allowing Peter to be sifted, Jesus was allowing Peter to grow and become more refined and a stronger leader - more desirable for God's purpose.

Another element to this verse is that Peter's faith could not fail during the process. If Peter's faith failed he would not have been equipped to complete God's work. He would have missed his calling. All Peter's time with Jesus was to bring him to the point of being sifted... why should we expect no different? We often think of God's calling as a magical walk, almost like a Disney movie with rainbows and blue birds singing. We do not like to consider that we must endure the purification or refining process, only as God shapes us and develops us can we be used by Him for His will. There is peace in knowing God is living in you and that He is ultimately in control, but it is not a guarantee that there will never be trials. During your times of trial, remember to seek God even more, let your faith never fail you... learn to embrace the sifting by knowing you will come out better than you were before.