Have You Been Sifted?
After a night of spending time with friends, I was finally on my way home. Usually I'd blast music as entertainment for the long ride ahead, zooming from lane to lane in hopes of getting home in less than 40 minutes. This night in particular I was less concerned with jamming out since the right songs never seemed to come on shuffle. Amongst the melodies that played, my mind wandered to a quiet place where a scripture was suddenly whispered. "...Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat"-Luke 22:31. I wasn't alarmed by the randomness of this but rather intrigued and my mind delved deeper.
See, the enemy of our souls, most often personified as an ugly beast, is anything that drains and aims to destroy us. As a blood-thirsty leech draws the life source from our bodies, leaving us drained while its insatiable thirst remains unquenched, so the enemy of our souls is unsatisfied until every drop of our purpose is drawn. It doesn't care about us, our goals, our loved ones, and the things that matter to us. Its sole purpose is to feed. This monster appears in the form of things that are sweet to the taste but bitter to the stomach; beautiful to the eyes but chains to the soul. They bring depression, anxiety, stress, hatred, bitterness, and the like. In Galations 5:19-21 these enemies are classified as the WORKS of the flesh, “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (NLT) It's no wonder they are called 'works' because when you've completed you are left empty, and as a dog chasing his tail, you never quite reach fulfillment.
Have you been feeling sifted lately? Needing a break from life? Depleted of what you need in order to be healthy in every way (mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically)? I know I have. At times, life can seem just like that blood-thirsty leech. It’s at this point, almost like clockwork, the droning call of the world beckons louder. As the dehydrating effect of alcohol coerces us to take another sip when our true need is water, so the seductive call of the world leads us into darkness when what we truly need is light. Water & Light, the same things a plant needs to live, flourish, and thrive. So are we the same! Oh the joyous oxygen that fills the veins of our soul when we take a sip of Water that won’t leave us thirsty and a glimpse of Light that won’t leave us blind.
Thankfully, we have a Source who is that Water & Light. He is able to put our sifted pieces back together. The following scripture, Luke 22:32 says "...but I have prayed for you...that your faith should not fail." This same Source who created those broken pieces knows exactly how to mend them, to form once again the masterpiece which is you.
One may ask why they’re so special to be viewed as a threat. While there are countless similarities among us, we are each uniquely fashioned, as Psalm 139:14 describes, we are fearfully and wonderfully made! Since we are each created with an amalgamation of distinct characteristics, there are things in life that seek to undermine our greatness and purposes in God. Our Father has a unique plan for your life and things come to destroy that plan because only YOU were made to fulfill it! For example, a carrot cake has special ingredients that a banana bread doesn't and vice versa. Although, both have similar ingredients they each have DISTINCT characteristics NEEDED to fulfill what they're meant to become. If one or a few main ingredients are missing then it can change the end product. So we are comparable to such delicacies. The Master Baker has a plan in mind for each of us to fulfill HIS purpose but as a fly is drawn to a sweet and savory treat, so dark entities come to steal, kill, and destroy us: the salt of the Earth; God's beautiful creations. We have an enemy that desires to remove those special qualities or kill hopes and dreams designed to lead us to our destination. So, mind the things in your life that come to do the same to you, whether that is music, alcohol, drugs, pornography, bad influences, the wrong crowd, sex, etc. Although they might look pretty and glamorous, they have a purpose too and it is to take you out and stop you from fulfilling your God-given purpose. While these encounters seem inevitable, we can create spiritual barriers for our protection, knowing that our Creator is watching over us and has already conquered that beast on your behalf.
Isaiah 59:19- So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.
