August 14 Sifted to Strengthen

Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
 
THE fellowship at the Passover meal ebbs and flows, doesn’t it? If you’ve been with us these past few lessons, we’ve seen Jesus’ words range from suffering and betrayal to praise and promise. Now Jesus informs Simon (Peter) that Satan has asked God for permission to sift, to test Peter.
    What is our Lord’s intent here? Wouldn’t he want to protect his leader? After all, Satan especially seeks to crush God’s leaders as chaff on the threshing floor. That’s why he tempted Eve and Adam, later Job, even Jesus and now these disciples soon to become powerful, preaching apostles. To what purpose would Jesus permit such a thing? Wouldn’t this have been very hard, discouraging words for Peter and the others?
    Remember Adam’s story – how he failed the sifting. Evil reigned over faith. Recall Job’s story – how he passed the sifting. Faith defeated evil. The Lord raised up Job to become a testimony of faith. Yes, Job wanted to know, “Why, God?” but he eventually understood, “Yes, God.” One of Scripture’s most worshipful lines is Job’s response to seeing God’s holiness: Job 42:6 “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."  He saw his sins against God’s holiness. Humbly, he submitted to the Lord’s sovereign will for his life. The sifting cast doubt from Job’s heart and brought Job closer to God.
    Peter, too, will suffer great spiritual grief. As God did not abandon Job, the Lord will be with Peter. Jesus assured Peter, “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.” He did not pray the test would be removed because the test would strengthen Peter’s faith. That why Jesus also said, “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Strengthened and renewed, Peter became a sure testimony to the church and to the other disciples. Then the Lord will turn his heart to know his sin.
    Read Acts 2-4, and you will see how Peter faithfully preached and healed in the name of Jesus. See how he boldly stood before the same authorities who crucified Jesus. Never again would he deny the Christ. Read 1 Peter to know how diligently Peter strengthened and encouraged the new church as they experienced “fiery” trials. Peter knew trial. He knew triumph. He knew God.  
    We may think God is unfair to permit Satan to sift Christians’ faith. But we must trust God in all matters. As we’ll see next, a test can be a way to stop our wrong thinking. It can be a means of redirecting our thoughts from our own will to God’s will. Jesus’ church must withstand evil, so it will triumph in truth. Be faithful to prepare for the trials. Testify of God’s power. Strengthen the church. Prepare the world for his eternal victory.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your grace to save me, your strength to empower me and your love to keep me close to you. Amen.