Peter prided himself on being the leader of the twelve. He often said the right thing and was commended by Jesus. For example… when Jesus asked: “Who do you say I am?” Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Or when, after many disciples had turned away, Jesus turned to the twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Peter responded by saying, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe and we know you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Then… Jesus said to Peter: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat!”
So, what does it mean to be sifted like wheat? In the Bible days, wheat would be thrown into a sieve and violently shaken. In the shaking, the worthless matter would fall to the ground and the good stuff would remain. Peter’s faith would be shaken later that night and he would fail the test. But Jesus gives him a prediction… he would repent and come back. The sifting wasn’t just for Peter… it’s for all of us. Satan will come at each of us and shake us… his goal is to get us to give up, quit, to destroy our faith. He does this in many different ways, but he is also predictable. He will get us to question or doubt like he did to Eve… “Did God really say that?” Or he will rob us of something like he did for Job. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
But what Jesus says to Peter in this moment are principles we need to remember. Here are three…
1) Satan WILL shake us up! This is inevitable. Our faith will be shaken at some time. And it may be violently. This shaking will make us question our faith, doubt in the sovereignty of God, or bring us to a place of confusion… we just aren’t sure of the reliability of the Bible. Satan’s goal is to get us to destroy our faith… to abandon Jesus.
2) Jesus refuses to let us go! Jesus said to Peter… “While Satan is sifting you, I’m praying for you.” In other words, Jesus prays that we will remain strong, that we will NOT cave, and that we will not give up on TRUTH! This warms my heart so much. Jesus, the King of the Universe, is praying for my faith. He loves me so much that He does not want to lose the fellowship we share. Remember, that Jesus always wins.
3) We are to use it to help others! Jesus to Peter… Listen, when you repent and turn back, help others. I wonder how often Peter shared this story… when he denied Jesus… to help others who were struggling and questioning. “I know what you’re going through… I was there. If I can remain strong, so can you.” But this is where we often get it wrong. Believers are notorious for not sharing their struggles or the doubts they have had. It may make them look weak. And as a leader in the church, they don’t want people to think that they struggle in their faith. But here’s the thing… people need to hear about our struggles. They need to hear about our doubts, confusion, skepticism, or uncertainty. Our story of redemption will spur them on and give them hope. It might be the strength they need at that moment.
Let these words encourage you today. Remember that Jesus will do whatever is necessary to keep us from falling to Satan’s lies. He is right now praying for you.