They had just had dinner together. All of them must had been sensing the
heaviness, Jesus saying he was going to suffer and not eat or drink this meal
again until the kingdom of God comes. He
then declares that the one who would betray him was seated at the table. All eyes must have darted around the table.
Discussion ensued about whom the betrayer was and then a dispute about which one
would be regarded as the greatest. We
often do that as humans, in an effort to not confront what lurks below our
surface, we run through the list in our heads of why we are pretty “good”. In the middle of this exchange Jesus turns to
Peter and says, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat.” I don’t know about you, but at this point if
I was Peter I would be looking at Jesus, the one who calmed the sea, healed diseases,
and cast out demons to back that statement up with, but don’t worry….I stopped
him! Or…I won’t let that happen! But, that is not what was spoken. Jesus said, “but
I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail and you, when once you have
turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
The sifting happened, the violent shaking to cause what was to remain to
remain, and what was not fruit to be sifted, stripped, and pruned out of Peter’s
life.
When I am getting ready to bake a cake, I gather all my
ingredients, read the recipe another time, and begin the process. When I read in the instructions to sift my
flour I question it, every time! I
think, “Do I really need to do that?”
The sifter I use is one of those old fashion ones that is metal with a
wire mesh at the bottom and a crank handle on the side. I pour the flour in and begin to crank and
the flour that comes out the bottom of the sifter is finer, lighter and
fluffier than when it went in. The
reason I want to skip this part is because it takes more time. It’s an added step and requires dirtying
another bowl and the sifter. But the
desired result is worth it. Sifted flour
always makes the cake fluffier and lighter. Sifting does require more
time. In fact I believe we go through
seasons of sifting in our lives, as like Peter our Intercessor Jesus stands and
prays for us. That our faith won’t
fail. The result of sifting is a
stronger faith, one that we can strengthen others with.
It has been almost two years since we believed God invited
us to come to the plains and let Him speak to us. This has been a season of sifting for
us. I have leaned on the words spoken to
Peter and Jesus’ words in John 15
and they have spoken life to me in this sifting season. It has been painful as the sifting has
identified lumps in me that were pride and idols that he wanted to remove. I
have grieved and cried as God the perfect gardener prunes and strips those
things off of me that are not of him, until the only attachment that is left is
the one…me and Him…abiding.
We are a couple weeks away from the wheat harvest here on
the Oklahoma
plains. As the big combines roll through
the fields doing their work, they will cut, strip, and thrash the wheat until
the golden brown kernels of wheat fall almost in submission to be used. And yet
have no say in what manner they will be used. With the sifting and with the
pruning there comes the promise of faith, fruit, and further usefulness. Submitting to the process has had a high
price but learning what it means that he is my portion and my cup, is priceless.
Still Learning…
With much love,
Kim
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