God’s protection and your life
One passage in the bible that always gave me nervous chills was when Jesus, at the Last Supper, said to Peter, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift all of you as wheat.” Luke 22:31
Can you imagine that? The devil went to Jesus and asked (some versions say “demanded”) permission to take His disciples away from Him.
In biblical times, wheat used to be put through a large strainer. The person would then violently shake the strainer to get the dirt and other impurities to separate from the good, usable grain.
So, Satan was talking about going after the disciples and their faith, in a violent way.
Jesus then said to Peter, “But, I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”
Gulp.
Jesus didn’t say, “I told Satan no.” or “I told Satan to stay away from all of you.”
Jesus, in essence, consented to it and told Peter that He was praying for him that his faith would not fail.
Why didn’t Jesus simply tell Satan that He wouldn’t consent to it?
I believe Jesus knew that what Peter was about to go through (denying knowing Jesus three times) was a crisis of faith, a crisis of courage, a tornado of confusion and it would be something all of us would go through in our lives and Jesus wanted Peter to be an example to us that we will get through our troubling times or situation and He will still be there for us.
That’s why He said, “… once you have turned back again (to Me), strengthen, and support your brothers (in the faith). Luke 22:32
Jesus was foreshadowing Peter’s denial of him and letting Peter know that he would be turning back to Jesus once the sifting stopped.
Most importantly, Jesus wanted Peter to know that even after he denied knowing Jesus three times, Jesus still loved him. That is why when Jesus rose from the dead, and the women went to his tomb and say he’d risen, the young man, dressed in the white robe said, “… go tell the disciples and Peter…” Mark 16:7
When the women went back and told the disciples what had happened, you can almost hear Peter asking, “Are you sure he said tell Peter, too?”
Can this sifting happen in our lives?
I believe so.
The more of a Christian life we live, the more Satan wants to derail us.
I know I have felt it when I’m making my faith-based films. So many problems arise, seemingly out of nowhere. Some last for days, some for weeks and some much longer than that.
Always remember this: when Jesus prayed for His disciples, He said to God, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:15
I believe He prays the same prayer for all of us who believe in Him (“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who believe in me…” (John 17:20)
With Jesus praying for us and protecting us, we must move full steam ahead and keep on doing what He put each of us here to do.
Keep the faith.
Robert