The Sifted

Luke 22 Simon, Simon, behold Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.





There is a principle in life that adversity and trials result in strength.





Sometimes I am not particularly fond of this principle. It reminds me of another one that says the more calories you eat, the more you weigh. Or you reap what you sow. I would desire to have strength without adversity. Character without trials. Integrity without testing. To reap a great harvest that I had not sown.





There are so many treasures in these verses; the fact that Jesus knows where we are and what we are facing; that He is concerned for us, prays for us, encourages us. And when we fail He uses that failure to good.





And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.





My mother and I had an interesting conversation yesterday. She is passing on to her children the responsibility of praying for our family. She is asking for a commitment to life long, earnest prayer for those we love. It is a huge commitment and one that I fear I will never accomplish to the measure that she has. It is her legacy and she is, in this respect, a giant in the faith.





She was sharing with me a burden for a distant relative who is addicted to meth; a request for recovery, sobriety and restoration. And I was thinking about the fact that a recovered meth addict can go so far in helping other people along in their own recovery. Who better to speak of the Lords faithfulness than a recovering addict.





So today the Lord speaks to my own heart....





I would not have had you suffer the things that you have endured in this life. It was not my plan for you from the beginning. But it is My plan to take those experiences and use them to strengthen others.





Sharing my life, my failures, my sins and those sins committed against me in this blog brings on a flood of different emotions for me. Sometimes I feel joy or relief. Sometimes I am angry or feel foolish. But the greatest gift is that it is bringing me to a place of peace within myself, with those who have hurt me and with God. My prayer is that it will strengthen you.





Like Simon Peter I have found that the Lord sees us perfectly. Our flaws. Our past. Our future. Our sin. He loves us and prays for us and is not disappointed in us. He takes the entirety of our lives and uses it for His good in the lives of our brothers and sisters.

Luke 22 Peter said to Him, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death. Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.

Father it is my desire to be transparent before You. I have grown weary of the need to try to make myself look good before You and other people. We are not good, aside from Your Spirit. We are born with a sin nature and fight against it for all of our lives. So take this life Lord, the good, bad and the ugly and let it tell a story of Your redemptive love. Let others see Your design and Your handiwork Father, Your ability to take all of it and mold it into something useful, something beautiful, something strong. May we bear fruit and strengthen our brothers and may You be pleased and glorified in our lives.