Siftings - Luke 22:31-32

"And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.'"

In this remarkable statement, Jesus gives us a behind-the-scenes view of how His kingdom operates. At the time Peter did not, and could not, understand what He was saying. But we who now know the whole story have much less excuse for our wrong theologies when it comes to the matter of temptation and testing.

I have found eight insights in these few lines that have given me great assurance whenever I encounter difficulties in my life.

1. Jesus tells us that trials will come. In His final hours with His disciples before His crucifixion, it was a subject He mentioned often. At the Passover supper He told them, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). In the garden of Gethsemane, He asked them to pray, not for Him, but for themselves: "Pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Luke 22:40, 46).

2. Satan can do nothing without God's permission. As in the more extensive story of Job (see Job 1 and 2), Jesus reveals here that Satan acts only in full submission to God.

3. God permits our trials.

4. Our trials are designed to be siftings, that is, violent shakings to determine what we are made of. Will we be grains of wheat, which do not fall to the ground, or are we chaff and debris?

5. During the sifting, Jesus does not abandon those who are His. Rather, He prays for our faith to remain strong.

6. Jesus' prayers are always answered. This is an important thing to understand. As we know, Peter's faith seemed to fail. In his hour of temptation, he was confronted not by a sword-wielding soldier, but by an inquisitive servant girl. Fear overtook him, and three times he denied the Master to whom he had hours earlier pledged undying allegiance. Jesus, knowing full well this would happen, set up the rooster signal specifically because He wanted Peter to grasp His sovereignty in the situation.

7. Jesus knew Peter would return to Him. He did not say "if," but "when." He understood that the more significant event was not Peter's personal failure but his resulting comprehension of faith. Faith is the outworking of God's nature within us. When Peter came face to face with his own helplessness, and wept in bitter repentance, he was far more victorious against the kingdom of Satan than he would have been if he had never denied Christ.

8. The testings of our faith give us something to give others. Peter was able to look Jesus in the eye, both in the hour of his temptation and later on the seashore when Jesus recommissioned him as a trusted disciple (in John 21:15-19). But most of the people to whom Peter would later minister (including ourselves, who read his wonderful letters) do not have that eye contact with our Lord. The power of Peter's testimony is not only his unwavering devotion to Jesus, but also his deep appreciation of the value of suffering (see I Peter 4:12-14).

You see, we mature spiritually only as we discover both our weakness and His strength. If you are able to learn the life-story of anyone who now walks in deep fellowship with God, it will invariably contain times of intense suffering and personal failure. Why then should we ever view our own trials as anything less than God's precious gifts, carefully designed to bring us to Him, to conform us to His nature, and to provide us with the means to strengthen others?