Don't fail me now!

Let me start by saying "UGH!!!!"

OK, do you remember the events of Luke 22:32? Here's the deal. Jesus is prepping His disciples for His death. Ole Saint Pete was sitting there at the dinner table with the guys and Jesus talks to them about their being servants and receiving an kingdom just as He had received one from His Father. Then Jesus looks at Pete and tells him that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat!

Have you ever been sifted? That word "sifted" is the root in the word "UGH!!!!" Its in there, trust me. Its one of those understandings that come from the Holy Spirit leading you into all truth.

Back to the discussion at hand. Jesus, ever merciful, gracious, and compassionate, tells Pete that He has prayed for him that his faith not fail! Wow! Jesus prayed for Pete like that! Guess what, He'll pray it for you too, and He has for me more times than I want to remember. Don't get me wrong here, I'm ecstatic that God the Son would care enough and think enough of me to mediate for me in such a manner, but if He's praying like that over me then its because there is an "UGH!!!!" to deal with.

I'll spare you the details, but about four years ago while reflecting on a sermon I had listened to by John Piper (www.desiringgod.org) I heard those words echo in my heart! "I pray for you that your faith not fail." I was, at that point, naive enough to not understand the implications of it but rather basked in the understanding that Jesus was praying for me. Needless to say, the need I had for the prayer surfaced that very next Wednesday evening. UGH!!!! Reflecting back, I realize it took about eight months to begin to recover, and by the time normal settled back in, it was about the tenth month, forty weeks (that number means something to God, I wonder if it was planned that way from the beginning?).

Fast forward to a few months ago when I heard an echo in my heart again, " I pray that your faith not fail." This time I trembled. I shared this with two people that week, my wife and her mentor. We had a brief but serious talk about what was coming. It took a couple of weeks but we began to see how it was manifesting. It seems that we may be in for another forty weeks. Am I so thick headed that I didn't learn my lesson the first time? So here I am (we are) trying to make sense of the events of the past several weeks and waiting.

And it came...to pass... It did come, and it will pass, but for now here is what I have to remember, Jesus, after breaking this news to Pete, told him that when he returned to Him, strengthen the brethren. I have endeavored before and I will again, to strengthen the brethren.

So let me ask you again, have you ever been sifted like wheat? Have you been rolled around and pressed on to knock the chaff off of you, and then tossed about in the wind to have that chaff cleansed away to leave the pure wheat? Have you then been put into the mill to be ground down into flour? Flour, for the people of Jesus day, was to be mixed with water or oil and kneaded, stretched and twisted until the gluten formed into an elastic lump of dough that could then be pulled and shaped by the baker to make loaves of bread that had been put through the fire of the oven making it into a delicious and life giving food that would be used to strengthen the body?

I dare say if you have seriously and sincerely pursued God and His holiness, then you know exactly what I'm describing here. It can take shape in so many different circumstances that you won't see it coming until its here and sometimes gone, but it is a refining fire that tests, purifies, and proves your faith. God's purpose is His glory and holiness through your life. Just like He did for Ole Pete, Jesus is praying that your faith not fail, and when you return to Him, strengthen the brethren.