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Sifted Today’s Treasure: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). Being sifted is not your regular brand of temptation. It’s an all-out onslaught of the enemy to destroy you and cause you to quit. It surfaces what you detest most in yourself and reveals the ugliness of self. Not everyone has or needs such an experience. The horror of my sifting season remains as real as yesterday, but, I pray, so is the grain left behind. The method of sifting wheat is to put it through a sieve and shake it until the chaff, little stones, and perhaps some tares, surface. The purpose is that the actual grain can be separated and ground into meal. You see, Satan’s goal in sifting is to make us a mockery by showing us to be all chaff and no wheat. Christ, on the other hand, permits us to be sifted to shake out the real from the unreal, the trash from the true. The wheat that proves usable is authentic grain from which Christ can make bread. Praise Christ’s faithful name! Satan couldn’t get everything about Peter to come up chaff. Satan’s plan backfired. He surfaced some serious chaff, but Christ let Peter have a good look at it. Then Christ blew the chaff away, took those remaining grains, and demonstrated His baking skills. Why did Christ allow Peter to be sifted like wheat? First, Peter was a natural leader and might have led in the flesh…if he were not taught its terrible weakness and danger. In about fifty-one days, Christ would transform him into a powerhouse among the disciples (see Acts 2). He needed a crash course only a fierce sifting could supply. Second, Christ knew that Peter would turn back. “But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back…” (Luke 22:32). Not if, but when. We’re somewhat like books Satan can read only from the outside. His book review is limited to assumptions he makes about what’s inside, based on what he reads on our “book jackets.” He cannot read the inside of us as Christ can. Satan observed Peter’s overconfidence and propensity toward pride. He surmised that, when the sifting came, every page would come up chaff. He was wrong. Christ knew Peter’s heart. He knew that underneath Peter’s puffed-up exterior was a man with a genuine heart for God. Jesus knew that Peter could deny Christ to others, but he could not deny Christ to himself. He would be back—a revised edition with a new jacket. Third, Christ knew how Peter’s return and “revision” could be used for others. “And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (v. 32). From falling, Peter was about to learn how to stand. Peter would indeed fall, but his faith would not fail. He would use everything Christ taught him to strengthen his brothers. You see, Christ didn’t want to take the leader out of Peter. He just wanted to take the Peter out of the leader. His goal was to let Satan sift out all the Simon-stuff so Christ could use what was left: a humble jar of clay with no confidence in his flesh. Lord Jesus, take what is in me that does not glorify You, what keeps me from being fully effective in Your kingdom, and sift it from what You can use. I want to be like Peter—a humble jar of clay with no confidence in my flesh. I thank You that Satan cannot sift me without Your permission. What he intends for evil, You use for good. I trust You completely with my life. Amen. Adapted from Jesus the One and Only, by Beth Moore, pages 283-286. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002. Used by permission.
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