Christian Family Services Ministry

4-22-2024 – A Word to the Wise – Sift Like Wheat

Some refer to the experience when Satan tries his best to destroy us as the dark night of the soul. Jesus referred to it as’ Satan desires to sift like wheat’. I refer to it as terror of the soul. One biblical example would be when Jesus told Peter that Satan desired to sift him like wheat. Another example had to do with Job, and Satan’s attempt to destroy him.

Another is Daniel in the lion’s den. Perhaps his three friends facing the fiery furnace. Nor was the Son of God exempt think about his first temptation. However, I consider Jesus in the garden prior to his trial the real dark night of the soul.

I suspect that as with Peter, for the godly, there is some type of dreadful warning given by the holy one before it begins.

The ultimate purpose is not to kill for Satan does not like a dead martyr rather to decimate the soul of man. If Satan can cause the person to kill another or out of shame to off one’s selves well, he will settle for that as well. It is always a harrowing experience and rarely without sin.

The terror of the soul is always a life-changing experience. The attack comes at your most vulnerable usually with something you have struggled with most of your life.

However, take note these times are not from the Lord. James tells us that God tempts no man, Jesus in the Lord ’s Prayer teaches us to ask God to deliver us from such trials. Ultimately, we see that the path to survival is found in a strong foundation rooted in the Fear of the Lord, humility, and God’s grace.

A caveat: some may wonder why some never seem to go through such trials. My mother has a unique answer for this; some are of no threat to the kingdom of Satan thus he leaves them alone.