Lord, sift me like wheat.

It was just recently while doing a study by Beth Moore, with my mom, that I heard a passage of scripture in a whole new light. I just love it when that happens. You know, when you've read over a passage several times in a lifetime but there's just that one time when you read it or hear it explained and the light bulb goes off. It has since become one of my favorite passages.

In the days before the crucifixion, as the Lord was preparing for his death, he spoke to Peter saying...

 

"Peter, Satan has asked for you, to sift you as wheat. I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail. And when you have repented and turned back to me... strengthen your brothers."

 

Hmmm. This struck me in so many different ways. Maybe it was just the season of life I was in. It was appointed for me to hear Beth speaking on these things right at that time. The Ahh Ha moment had arrived.

 

In her study "Believing God" Beth Moore states...

 

"Sifting is not just God allowing Satan to have a little fun in your life. He didn't forget about you. You haven't fallen off of his radar. He is patiently waiting and praying for you as you are being sifted. He's tryin' to say to you... I want to take you places, I want to do great things in your life, but we aren't taking that(sin)"

 

WOW! I'm not at all sure why that was so powerful to me. This is not some form of Satan's revenge, this is not an oversight on God's part. This is a process. God wants to use me, but there are some things I have to get rid of first.

 

So many times when I am in a season of sifting I blame Satan. You know the old "I'm going places for God and you are tripping me up. This is a trial of patience, endurance, strength. I'm going to defeat you through this." When in all actuality God is probably sitting there beating his head against the wall because the very things he is trying to sift out of my heart, I am clinging to. He doesn't want me to get through this on my own. I am not strong enough to endure or patient enough to wait it out. The god of self and pride are prominent. God is using Satan as a tool. He enjoys beating and shaking and throwing me around, all the while the gentle breath of my Savior is blowing all those impurities away. The chaff, the pebbles, the pride, the selfishness, the spirit of discontentment. He's gently trying to remove them from my heart and I am clinging to them for dear life.

 

Talk about a change in perspective. So in the times since then that I have felt a season of sifting, instead of reaching for my pride and vain ambition and bristling up to defeat Satan, I stop and ask...

 

 "What are you trying to get rid of Lord? What needs to go? Take it, please. I want to go where you want to take me."  

 

Does this mean that I don't still get totally stressed out and self reliant that I loose sight of the big picture and try to handle things myself and become completely overwhelmed. Definitely not. Most times, actually, I find myself fighting for life under the crushing weight of Satan's beating and thrashing before I let go of the god of self and let God sift out the junk.

 

These are some things I try to remember when a season of sifting arrives. Even in the several times I have read the passage since the Ahh Ha moment I have gleaned more truth from it.

 

1. Satan had to ask for you

 

 

2. The Lord has prayed for you

WHAT?!?! When I read this I was instantly brought to tears. The LORD, God Almighty, who knows every hair on my head, my every thought, my every fear, my inadequacies, my failures... He's praying for me!! I mean, I knew God was all knowing and cares even for the sparrows. He knows every second of my life in his Omniscient power; but it NEVER(and I mean NEVER EVER) crossed my mind that he was praying for me.  Prayer is such an intimate thing, at least for me. I mean if I am praying for you, I love you, and I mean that. Prayer is a serious thing to me. There are a few people in my life who tell me frequently that they are praying for me, and I know they mean it, I can feel it in my soul. That means more to me than words could EVER express. That is intersession with "God on High" on MY behalf. I am important to the Lord, and my spiritual state of being is important enough in his eyes for him to talk to his father about it. BLEW my mind!!

 

3. And WHEN you have repented and come back to me

The word "when" literally jumped right off the page at me. That was a guarantee. He didn't say IF, he said WHEN. There is no season of sifting that can keep you from  returning to the Lord.

 

4. Strengthen your brothers

Now wait a minute Lord... I am the one who is going to be sifted. Upon my return shouldn't my brothers be the ones strengthening me??? The point of sifting is to strengthen you so that you can in turn strengthen others. Don't be discouraged by the sifting season. Learn from it. Let go of those impurities that God is trying to rid from your heart and life and return to strengthen those around you. 

 

If you feel like your at a standstill in your Christian walk, maybe there are some things that are keeping you there. Pray; Lord, sift me!!