Weekend Preview | 5 Things I Wish Jesus Never Said: Part 4 – Sifting
By Matt Dawson
What a great series it’s been so far as we’ve discussed just a few of the things we WISH Jesus had never said.
As David pointed out in the first week, it’s not that we really HATE what He said… it’s just that in our human weakness, what Jesus often calls us to do rubs against the grain. It’s uncomfortable, and it costs us something.
This week we are going to specifically talk about those times of hardship and challenges that come to all of us in our lives. Those times where all we desire is for God to intervene and make it stop (take away the pain, remove the obstacle, pardon our consequences), but it doesn’t stop.
In Luke 22, Jesus makes a statement that we all wish he never said!
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
This is an uncomfortable scripture. So many things are at work in this passage. So many questions are raised by what Jesus says.
Why does Jesus only pray for Peter?
Why doesn’t Jesus STOP the sifting from happening?
Is this something that is going to happen TO Peter, or something Peter is going to do?
What if he doesn’t turn back?
Is Satan the author of all of our SIFTING?
Does GOD really give him permission to SIFT us?
Is there any purpose to our trials?
This weekend, we are going to focus on how we respond when “sifting” comes our way. Why we all wish Jesus would have simply said something different to Peter!
C.S Lewis once said that “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”
Is there a chance that our current hardships are preparing us for something extraordinary tomorrow?