“Simon, Simon, look out! Satan has asked to sift you like wheat.” Luke 22:10 HCSB

My cell phone is usually within hearing distance. It is close, easy to use and obedient. Whatever I want to find, or whomever I wish to communicate with, can be done in an instant! Yesterday, the second I had the urge, I picked it up and dialed. ‘Ring, ring, ring, ring voicemail!’ I left a message, then did something rather strange. I immediately dialed someone else… and got the same result! Then my mood changed!

With easy access to phones and caller ID it is easy to know who is calling before I even answer the phone. The thought hit…”are they DELIBERATELY IGNORING ME?” Then “What did I DO? Are they mad at me?” When no return call came, even hours later, that nagging feeling persisted! We ALL experience it.

I remember when phones sat on end tables and had NO answering machines. While they were a convenience, they were not the primary means of communication. I even remember when I used to wait for the mailman to come. I can STILL remember the sound of his footprints on the porch, the groan of the mailbox as he lifted its lid and then thinking, “Is there anything for ME?”

This scripture is a letter TO Jesus… FROM His archenemy, satan! Though it is in the form of a request, it is actually a demand. Why? Because satan OWNS Peter! Peter is a sinner deserving of hell! And because Christ has not yet died to pay for Peter’s redemption, Jesus HAS to grant satan his request. Out of love for Pete… Jesus warns him what is coming!

As it happens sometimes, this verse in MY Bible is not completely correct! Why? Because the word ‘YOU’ is NOT singular, but plural! Jesus is saying, ‘Satan has asked to sift ‘ALL OF YOU’ as wheat!’ It should frighten me a little that… ‘YOU’ also means ‘ME!’ In hindsight, we KNOW what happened to Peter and the disciples and…it wasn’t good! Jesus ‘next words’ are CRITICAL to remember. “But I have PRAYED for you!”

Though I have been a Bible student for years, I have been sucked into the modern world where INSTANT is normal and patience is for hospitals! When I don’t get an answer IMMEDIATELY, I tend toward anxiousness. But thank God I HAVE the Bible. Because His WORD is a letter to ME telling ME that… ‘sifting is on the way!’ And, for now, I must go back to the OLD days when the ‘last letter’ in the mail box held THE words I needed to hold onto… “K.C., I am praying for you!” signed “Jesus!”