"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or course joking, which are out of place." - Ephesians 5:3-4
Luke 22:31-32 (NIV) "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
Personalizing this:
“Steven, Steven, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Steven, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
The answer to our “Now What?” question is found right in this passage. Q: Now what? A: Strengthen your brothers.
Before getting to that, let us look at two other aspects worth discovering.
Sift as Wheat I recall helping my dad and uncles harvest wheat at my grandparent’s farm. The combine cuts the wheat and, through a process that I do not understand, separates the wheat from the chaff. Basically, wheat gets saved and chaff is spit out the back. What a dusty process that is, too! The Enemy wants to do this to us, cut us down, beat us up and spit us out! His goal is for there to be no separating of the good from the bad. His goal is to render each of our lives useless for the Kingdom.
However, it does not have to be that way. We as Christians have something in us that our Enemy cannot destroy: Christ! With the presence and power of the Holy Spirit we have available to us Christ’s power to withstand the sifting. I cannot help but think of 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 (NIV) “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” I know how a season of sifting feels.
Those times or seasons of sifting, pressing, crushing or persecution are to prove us genuine. (I Peter 1:7)
Being proved genuine comes from a faith that will not fail. Non-failing faith. That’s what I want to be known and remembered for, don’t you? Do you have a faith that is non-failing? Interesting question, isn’t it? I think the only way to answer that question with a resounding “YES” is to be completely filled and lead by the Holy Spirit at all times. Personally, I have yet to meet an individual for whom that would describe their every moment. However, when we approach life with an eternal view we will have much better odds of a life lived and governed by an unfailing faith. Definitely something we ought to be praying and striving for.
Finally, to strengthen you’re brothers! I’ve determined that nothing happens by chance. As I see it and understand it, there is a reason for everything. Life’s sifting provides ministry opportunities -- opportunities to share our God with others and how He brought us through our valleys. How He provides for us if only we will let Him.
What does that look like? I think it looks like Christ and varies on the individual who is willing to do the strengthening. It looks like purpose growing out of your pain and resulting in ministry. So, where does or where did your pain reside? If you can answer that, then you can identify where your area of strengthening and ministry exists.
If you do not know, give us a shout. We have an exercise that helps individuals identify ministry opportunities.
