When You Are Tested on the Very Truth You Declare, Part Two
To read Part One of When You Are Tested on the Very Truth You Declare, click here.
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.
Luke 22:31-32
There is a time in the walk of discipleship when we are tested on the very truth we declare, the promises that liberated us.
The truth set us free. We know it is real. We have seen its fruit in our lives and others’. We have secured our identity in what God says is true about us. Perhaps we even built our life work on proclaiming it to others that they might be free, too.
But in an instant, the clouds gather and the rain falls in blinding slants, thunder crashing around us, deafening the voice of faith. We fall to our knees in the torrent, groping for the Rock we know is there.
The storm rages with the voice of the accuser of the brethren, the father of lies, the one who must ask God for permission to sift His beloved ones as wheat.
Hypocrite! How can you say God protects His children when your own child died in a tragic accident?
Liar! How can you stand in front of people when you fall on your face in private, sobbing before your God?
How can you call yourself a youth pastor when your own child is a prodigal?
Amidst the scream of the storm, the voice of Truth speaks our name.
Simon, Simon! Listen.
The Hebrew name Shimon, rendered Simon in English, is derived from the Hebrew word shema. Shema means to hear, to listen, to understand. The name Shimon literally meant “The Listener.”
Simon was the first disciple to recognize who Jesus truly was. When he saw Jesus for who He was, Jesus revealed to Simon who he was. When we learn who God is, we learn who we are.
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Matthew 16:15-18
Becoming Peter the Rock was a process, and it began in the place of listening.
The transformation from listener to rock would entail severe testing of Simon’s faith, a test Jesus compared to the sifting of wheat. Everyone present that day was familiar with the difficult process of sifting wheat. They also knew full well the necessity of sifting, separating that which is good and usable from that which is useless.
In ancient times, the first step in sifting wheat was to gather the stalks for threshing. Threshing required spreading out the wheat on a hard surface, then beating it with a club. Next, the threshed wheat would be winnowed by tossing it into the air, completely separating the inedible from the edible parts of the plant. The wind blew the chaff, or inedible bits, away, leaving behind the useful portion of the wheat.
Simon would be spread out on the hard surface of persecution and loss, beaten by condemnation and cowardice. His hopes and dreams of following Jesus would be thrown up into the air, tossed about by the winds of disappointment as the Son of God was nailed to a criminal’s cross.
After he denied Christ three times on the eve of Jesus’s crucifixion, Simon the listener would remember Jesus’s mercy words to him on that final night.
“But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
Luke 22:32
The voice of Truth and the voice of the accuser waged war in Simon Peter’s head.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Peter, the Rock? How can the church be built on a coward? A betrayer?
The threshing, the winnowing of Simon would turn impulsivity into prayerfulness, belligerence into leadership, pride into humility, and zeal into wisdom. Peter the Rock would emerge from the threshing floor a man whose faith was built on the steadfast stability of God the Rock.
Such mighty faith would rise out of Peter’s trial that he would indeed found the church on earth. But the glory would go to God, not the man who once argued with his fellow disciples about who would be the greatest.
When you are tested in the very truth you declare, run to Jesus. He is calling you by name, and He knows not only who you are now, but who you are meant to become. #faith #discipleship Click To TweetThe process of transformation takes time. It takes sifting. We will be tested on the very truth we zealously declare. But Jesus has prayed for us that our faith may not fail.
As for me, I will not stop declaring that Jesus the Messiah rescues us from shame and gives honor instead.
The enemy has been given permission to sift us. Permission granted by our Father who loves us more than we can fathom. Our Father who knows what is good and usable, and what needs to be removed in our hearts. We can trust His hand to preserve us even as He allows the enemy to sift us as wheat.
Lord, as I am sifted like wheat, transform me and make me mighty in faith, to Your glory. Amen.
If you would like to learn more about the Messiah who gives honor instead of shame, get a copy of Covered Glory: The Face of Honor and Shame in the Muslim World by clicking here.
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