GOD WHISPERS TO US IN OUR PLEASURES, SPEAKS IN OUR CONSCIENCE BUT SHOUTS IN OUR PAINS; IT IS HIS MEGAPHONE TO ROUSE A DEAF WORLD -C.S. LEWIS
“Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.What does sifting actually mean? It is the process of separating or filtering the good from the bad, the desirable from the undesirable.
But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail” (Luke 22:31-32)
What do you think about when you think of sifting? My Mom making biscuits by using a handheld sifter that she would squeeze and shake at the same time to get lumps out of the flour. What seemed like an endless, tiresome process often showed a gift of love from Mom to us—the finished product.
The Bible refers to a different kind of sifting. It is the same principle we are familiar with but on a larger scale. When Satan asked to sift Peter, his purpose was not to shake Peter’s faith so that nothing was left. God allowed the sifting, but He had a different purpose in mind. And that made all the difference between defeat and victory. When Jesus advised Peter that Satan had asked to sift Peter, He made specific reference to the way wheat was sifted to separate grain from stubble, the good from the bad. Jesus understood Satan’s attempt to interfere in Peter’s life as villainous.
In the scripture verse in Luke, it appears at first glance that Jesus was talking directly to Simon Peter when He said, “That he may sift you as wheat.” However, the word “you” is plural in the Greek. Jesus may have been looking at Peter, but His message was all-inclusive. Doesn’t it make you shudder to think Satan might specifically request permission to sift you by name! That’s a little too personal for my comfort zone, but it clears up any doubt I might have that Satan knows my name. If I were not aware that God alone has the final word in my life, it would be unsettling. It is good to know that Jesus supervises the process of what Satan is all owed to do to us.
We need to recognize the devil had to get permission from Christ. Satan doesn’t have a free hand with saints. The “accuser of our brethren” (Rev. 12:10) had to get God’s approval before any grinding of sifting took place. If God allowed Satan that kind of hands-on experience with his disciples, we must be acutely aware of his continued influence on believers today.
Questions about sifting can lead us to a deeper understanding of the way God conforms us into the persons He created us to be. Jesus was not fooled by Satan’s plan to sift the disciples. He knew that Satan’s mission was to defeat and destroy. Jesus knew what He was doing and allowing Satan’s influence in their lives to accomplish His purposes. The only way we can successfully struggle through these times is to focus on the Author of truth and not on our circumstances. While He may allow us to be severely tested, God has faithfully promised to never leave or forsake us.
Biblical references to sifting wheat are often accompanied by pictures that depict something unfamiliar to us today. Those assigned to the task would winnow the wheat on large six-pronged forks. The people who held the forks waved them in the wind until the chaff blew off. There were times that the process required more, when the undesirable chaff tenaciously clung to the fork and wouldn’t let go. When that happened, the woman took the wheat and put it on a large sifter and wrapped their arms around it. They took the sifter back and forth so that all the chaff was discarded and all that remained was the best wheat. Their purpose was not to destroy the wheat but to get rid of what was not desirable and keep the very best.
God has a purpose in sifting saints or in allowing us to be sifted. What is most obvious is this: God uses sifted people. There is nothing random about it. With the goal ever in sight, God sifts us for His service. Have you ever wondered why God leaves us here on earth if not to serve Him? Why didn’t He save us and immediately take us to be with Him so that we could avoid the suffering that is inevitable as long as we are here on earth?
He allows us to be sifted in order to bring honor and glory to Him. He uses weak, imperfect people. Those of us who have faced our weaknesses head-on and watched as God took control of our inadequacies, using them for His glory, understand that siftable souls are precious in God’s eyes. They are refined gold. God allows us to be sifted to grow up. Sifted saints understand the value of the process that takes them from the heights of their self-sufficiency to the awareness of God’s firm hand in conforming them to His image. God still sifts his people today. Our responsibility is to stay focused on God’s truth and not be swayed or distracted by temporary circumstances.
What kinds of sifting might you experience today? Physical sifting; financial sifting; temptation sifting; or possibly vocational sifting—what is your response to sifting? There are saints along the way who choose to submit in the sifting process and not stubbornly resist. When we submit, do you know what God does? He expands our ministry and makes us more useful. Sifting is for a purpose. And that purpose is to make us better servants.
(some thoughts by Dr. Charles Stanley)
