Satan Desires to Sift Us like Wheat

Luke 22:31-32
"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee,
that thy faith fail not: And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

Luke 22:31-32 "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
Peter was one of Jesus’ disciples. He was the one that had the faith to get out of the boat and start walking on the water to Jesus. But when he
took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the boisterous waves he began to sink. Then he cried out to Jesus, and Jesus bid him ‘come.’ Peter
 was a bold disciple, impatient, and sometimes acted and spoke hastily.

(Job 1:7 The LORD asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" In response, Satan answered the LORD, "From wandering
all over the earth and walking back and forth throughout it.")

One day, satan, as he was’ walking to and fro in the earth, like a lion hungry to find new prey, happened to see Peter. Satan thought to himself,
“it will be easy to destroy Peter; I will sift him like wheat, and after I am finished with him, there will not be anything left of ‘ole Peter!’


Satan was well aware he had to get permission from God to do this. He presented himself
before God. It really annoyed him that he could do nothing without first obtaining permission
like a child. It was an insult!

"If I had my way, he grumbled, I'd immediately destroy every believer in Christ! After all, is it not my mission to 'steal, kill, and destroy?’
But no, all he could do was what God allowed him to.

When God granted him permission he was jubilant! He knew Peter was always messing up!

He thought back to the time Peter and the other disciples argued over which of them was going to betray Christ. Peter had been in the midst
of the strife that had arisen over which of them should be accounted the greatest! He chuckled gleefully with smug satisfaction. Pride! I get a lot
of folks with that one!

Meanwhile, Jesus was with Peter. He told him, "Peter, Satan wants you. He wants to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you,
that your faith will not fail." Jesus had told His disciples’ that they would be offended at Him that night. (Matthew 26 31-32) Peter, brash and
bold as ever, declared “Lord, I am ready to go with you anywhere! I am even ready to go with you unto death! Jesus, knowing what would happen,
sadly looked at Peter. Peter, He told him, you will deny me three times before morning. But, after you are changed, you must strengthen the brothers.

Satan asked to sift Peter so that nothing good was left. He wanted to completely destroy Peter. God allowed this sifting because He had a different
goal in mind. He permitted the sifting so that the good would be left and the chaff (bad) would be removed. God allowed Peter to be sifted to remove
the impurities, so that he would be able to help his brothers. Sifting is used to purify a product, such as sifting ‘wheat.’ The process of sifting wheat
is in order to ‘winnow out’ the undesirable chaff without hurting the wheat.

God has His own mission when He allows Satan to sift us. He wants us to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. God has the final
say in our lives and grants Satan only limited influence. God allows testing and trials, but Satan cannot go beyond the boundaries He has set. He has
promised to never leave or forsake us, and everything that happens is first filtered through His loving hands. He takes what Satan means for harm and
'turns it around' to our good and His glory. Romans 8:28..." And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to His purpose." His purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son.

Satan will use any ‘sifter’ that he finds has worked in the past. He will use disease or illnesses, temptations, and especially in this fragile economy,
financial woes. He can use the desire to get ahead in one’s chosen career, and he will even use friends and family. There are many ‘sifters;
that satan uses, as many and varied as there are people. When we are suffering it is hard not to question why God, who loves us so much, would
 allow such. But He allows this only because He loves us! When we are suffering, we reevaluate our priorities. Often we have to slow down and are
forced to look at where we are and where we need to be. And if we are smart we will learn from the sifting. We will glean all there is to learn while
we are being sifted.

In financial difficulties, we realize that God is our source, and we must depend on Him.We cannot depend on other people, because we are
all undependable at times, and we cannot meet every need one may have. But God can! He has promised to meet all our needs.

In temptations, we rely on the Word to help us combat them. Jesus repeated, "It is written." He used the Word to combat satan, and so should we.
But to use the Word, we must first KNOW the Word!

Although we have to work in this life, (if a man don't work, let him not eat) we need to realize that the 'people' in our lives are more important
 than our possessions. Sadly, too many people realize this too late. The older I get the more I realize the importance of my family and friends!

The responses to being ‘sifted’ are as varied as the people being sifted. Some react in a good way, some in a not-so-good way. We might try to blame
God, or we might try to place the blame on others. Satan’s ‘blame game’ is a favorite tool of his; as long as we put the blame on someone else, we
 will never accept responsibility. We will never admit that sometimes, WE are to blame for the situations we find ourselves in. The choices we
make are very important; they can lead to good things, or hard times.

One thing we may try to do when we are being sifted is try to escape it. When we try to do that we are not realizing that we are hindering the purpose
that God had in mind when He allowed the sifting to take place. For instance, the Israelites went around that same mountain for forty years! The
sifting is to purify and rid one of all those things that are not pleasing to God. We are being ‘conformed to the image of Jesus,’ becoming more and
more like Him, going from glory to glory. God’s will is for us to be like Jesus; that is what we are each called to be!

We are at times most vulnerable to being sifted by Satan after a victory. Also satan will attack us in those areas that we think we are the strongest
 and most self sufficient. Peter was strong in being brave, yet he denied the Lord three times when confronted, and almost sank in the water when
he got his eyes off Jesus.

When we are being ‘sifted’, there are several things we need to realize. Satan will ask for us by name. There is only so far that he can go,
because God sets boundaries that he cannot cross. And we need to really know that God is in control of the situation. Peter, after his sifting, was
 a changed man, and the things that he did is detailed in the book of Acts. After ‘our’ sifting, we can become bitter or we can become better.
 We can learn and grow from being sifted, or we can become discouraged and ‘give up.’ I pray that we are the ones that learn and grow and
are even more fruitful for the cause of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things not seen are eternal.”

C.S. Lewis said: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a dead world."

"God is the God of all comfort!"

By Shirley Miller.... copyrighted, all rights reserved.