Making the Enemy Pay Full Price

"God will never let Satan sift you like wheat unless he has a specific plan in mind for how he can work that experience out for your ultimate good."  Author, Donna Partow made that statement in discussing why trials come into our lives.  I happen to know a few people who are being sifted like wheat right now.  It's heart-wrenching.  Those "sifting" experiences are the things that make us  gasp a punched-in-the gut "Why?!"  We may never know the answer to that question on this side of heaven, but we can be certain of God's love and faithfulness.  We can be certain that He will never leave us.  And that He will meet us in our times of fearful desperation.  

That "sifting wheat" passage is from Luke 22:31-32.  Jesus speaks it after serving the last supper to his disciples.  He knew all too well that he was going to go through extreme suffering himself very soon.  Peter and the other disciples were still pretty clueless, sitting there arguing about who was going to be greater than the others.  Then Jesus comes out with this surprising statement, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of 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.”  Peter answers that with a boastful confidence saying that he is willing to die for Jesus.  His words and actions later that very night prove that he wasn't ready for the "sifting" coming his way.  Who ever is?  A couple of things to note are that Jesus Himself was praying for Peter.  It would have been good if Peter had also been praying that his faith would not fail.  Jesus knew he wasn't strong enough, but He also knew that Peter would come back and that he could be a "source of strength" for the rest.  Jesus made sure Peter was allotted more than three strikes.

Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy and he's really good at it.  But, as Donna Partow says, we need to get good and angry at him and not let him win.  "I'm on a mission to make sure the enemy pays full price for every item he has ever stolen from me."  That statement blew me away.  I never thought about making Satan pay for what he does!  How do you do that?  "Nothing could be easier.  By devoting your life to glorifying God, by being determined to fulfill God's purpose for your life.  To be able to say in speaking to the Father, 'I have completed the work you gave me to do.'  You make the enemy pay by... fulfilling your specific assignment in the kingdom of God."  (p. 92 in Soon to be a Major Motion Picture:  New Direction for Life's Dramas)  That is an awesome way to live life.  I disagree with Donna that "nothing could be easier" though.  The concept is easy, the execution of it when you're in the midst of painful trials is not. It's hard.

My purpose in writing this blog today is to encourage you to pray.  Pray for yourself, like Jesus said, that your faith will not fail no matter what.  Pray for people you know who are being sifted right now.  People who are battling cancer, who have lost jobs, who have lost loved ones to senseless violence.  Pray that God will strengthen them and show them how to respond to their trials in a way that will "make the enemy pay full price" for everything he has tried to steal, kill, or destroy.

And no, we haven't had any snow like this yet.  These are just peaceful, pretty pictures for your enjoyment.