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FRIDAY THOUGHT 6/26/09

Sliced, diced and pickled
 
Well, boys and girls, when we left our hero Peter (aka Simon), he was about to make yet another rash, brash, poorly-thought-out promise to Jesus:  “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” (Luke 22:33).  But just before that, Jesus made it clear that the devil was going to play a lively game of  kick-the-can with Peter … with Peter as the can.
 
BUT (aha, here’s the BUT!), after that, when all was said and done, Peter was going to be stronger, better, ready to quit playing tag-along boon companion to his friend, the itinerant preacher, and step in and take charge of Jesus’s surviving ragtag band of less-than-perfect followers.
 
My point:  God challenges us, winnows us, sifts us (picture that process for a moment, if you will), tests us, tempers us and, yes, lets us fail horribly.  BUT from the bruised and battered soul-core remains, some pretty amazing stuff emerges.  Trust in God.  He really does know what He is doing. — jri 
 
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift
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.”
        –    Jesus Christ
               (Luke 22: 31-32)