Sifting Season

I love driving by wheat fields. I can’t say that I have ever been much of a farmer, but I’ve learned a little bit about the harvesting process of wheat. I once heard a difficult period of life thought of as a time of  “sifting.”  The person was referring to Luke 22 where Jesus is talking to the disciples on the night he is arrested. It says,

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32

 

In the process of harvesting wheat, the grain goes through a period where it is sifted and separated from any undesirable materials.  The sieve is the screen that allows the grain to stay and everything else to fall through as it is violently shaken. As we see in the verse above, Satan aims to sift our faith from us. He wants to separate us from the very thing that brought us into relationship with Him. However, we see in the verse above, Jesus prays for Peter. Notice that Jesus doesn’t pray that Peter would be spared from sifting, rather, he prays that Peter’s faith would not fail.  This truth is consistent throughout scripture.  We are told that there will be sifting periods in life, but in what the enemy intended to use against us, the Lord uses to bring Himself glory and strengthen His people.

Faith is what keeps us from falling through the screen into the hands of the enemy. Faith is what we cling to at all costs, truly believing that the Lord will restore us to himself, strong and firm.  Later in life, after Peter had betrayed Jesus and, I am sure, went through many more sifting times, wrote…

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” – 1 Peter 5:10

This man knows from experience!  I encourage you this week to hold fast to the faith that you have. Satan desires to sift your faith from you.  In the words of Peter again “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:9) Satan wants the process of sifting to be harmful and ultimately destroy you. Jesus uses the process as something to purify and strengthen us, firm and steadfast! -JG