Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 22:5,
Lord, to You I cry, and I am saved;
In you I trust and am never put to shame.
O Lord, guide me in Your everlasting Way today.
Amen.
Reading
As Jesus’ betrayal and arrest loomed large, an unseen, spiritual battle was raging. He was enjoying the Passover meal with His apostles and, in the warmth of the Upper Room, they no doubt felt deep affection and loyalty towards Jesus. But they and the strength of their loyalty to Jesus would very soon be put to the test.
That very night, a heavily armed crowd would come to arrest Jesus, and the disciples would face choices that would reveal the true state of their commitment to Him. They would be confronted by a very realistic fear for their own lives, and that fear would test the extent of their faith and their loyalty to Jesus. Would they buckle under the pressure, abandon Jesus or deny Him? Or would they stand firm?
In our passage for today, Jesus aimed to prepare all the disciples for this reality. His warning in v.21 was for all of them. Yes, He addressed Simon as their future apostolic leader, but He spoke to them all when he said:
‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.’
Over the last few days we have reflected on the reality that following Jesus may well cost us something financially, socially or even physically. The moment the reality of that cost confronts us personally is the moment of our “sifting”. It is the moment of spiritual testing. What will we do? Will we remain faithful, or will we turn away.
Sadly, we know that, for Simon, the testing revealed a failure in his confessed resolve. He claimed: ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.’ But we know with hindsight that he crumbled under the pressure and denied Christ three times that very night.
The good news for us is that, in our moments of testing, Jesus Himself is interceding for us in the heavenlies (Hebrews 7:25) just as He interceded for Simon. His intercession will strengthen us to pass the test and remain faithful, if we so choose. But, even if we should fail the test, Jesus’ love and loyalty to us continue undiluted, and He will always work to restore us.
A failure of loyalty to Jesus in the face of fear is only a temporary setback for any sincere disciple. Jesus will work to strengthen us to return (like Simon later did) and be restored .
When we have fallen away for any reason at all, we need to hear Jesus call and command coming to us as it did to Simon:
” … when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.“
Yes, it’s true that Jesus would rather we not fall in the first place. But having fallen and been restored we are uniquely positioned to exercise a strengthening ministry for others who find themselves in a similar position. In those moments, Jesus wants to transform our past failures into opportunities for ministry to others.
Will you hear that call today?
Will you allow Jesus to use your past failures as a way of equipping you to minister to others? Open your heart to Him, and open your eyes to the opportunities He will bring to you today to be used in that way.
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- When I have failed a test of faith, I will return to Him for forgiveness and restoration.
- I will allow my past failures to equip me to minister to others when they fall.
Lord Jesus, please forgive me my past unfaithfulness to You, and please use me to strengthen and care for others in their times of failure. Amen.
Dave's Diary 
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