Day 188: Luke 22:31–34

Simon, Simon, look out! Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen the brothers (vv. 31–32).

As surely as Christ knew Judas would betray Him, He knew the rest of His disciples would desert Him. He knew every move each disciple would make. The implication from Luke 22 is that Satan asked to “sift” the disciples “as wheat” in verse 31, and that Christ specified Peter’s own encounter in verse 32. I tend to think the Scriptures imply Christ permitted Satan to attack Peter with greater force than the others. If so, we might want to ask ourselves why. I believe these few verses intimate several reasons.

1. Peter was the natural leader among the disciples. Christ seemed to be singling him out as a leader in Luke 22:31 as He directed the statement concerning all the disciples (plural “you”) to Peter: “‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift [all of] you [disciples] as wheat.’” Very likely, Christ thought that Peter, as a leader among the disciples, could either take or needed the extra heat. I have a hunch both apply. Please be encouraged that Satan can’t just presume to sift a believer like wheat. I believe this precedent suggests he must acquire permission from Christ. (Compare Job 1.) Christ will not grant the devil permission to do anything that can’t be used for God’s glory and our good—if we let it.

But those in critical positions like Peter aren’t the only ones who can benefit from a good sifting. Please know, if ever I put on a shoe that fits, it would be this one. I, too, as a servant, badly needed a sifting. And I assure you, God was faithful to permit it. Being sifted like wheat is not your regular brand of temptation. It’s an all-out onslaught by 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 rise to the surface. The purpose is that the actual grain can be separated and ground into meal. 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 turned Peter’s field trip into a field day, but he still couldn’t get everything about Peter to come up chaff. Satan’s plan backfired. He surfaced some serious chaff, to be sure, 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. But Christ had a few other reasons for allowing Peter to be sifted like wheat.

2. 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.

3. 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.

Christ didn’t want to take the leader out of Simon Peter. He just wanted to take Simon 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.

Not everyone has to learn to stand by falling. Better ways to learn exist, but I’m afraid that I learned a similar way. I finally learned to stand on Christ’s two feet because my feet of clay turned out to be so unstable.

I was not so unlike Peter. I was young when I surrendered my life to Christ and was completely confident that nothing could shake my commitment. Excuse my bluntness, but I was an idiot. I cannot recall ever learning a more difficult lesson than that which my own sifting season taught me, but neither can I recall a lesson more deeply ingrained. Many years have passed, and I still do not live a day without remembering it and fearing another departure from Christ’s authority more than I fear death.

I wouldn’t wish a sifting on a single soul, but if that’s what a life of harvest requires, may God use it so thoroughly that the enemy ends up being sorry he ever asked permission. Beloved, commitments can be shaken, but Christ cannot. When the shakedown comes, may the fresh winds of God’s Spirit blow away the chaff until all that is left is the bread of life.