His Faith Took Him Higher Than The Trial Brought Him Down

Luke 22:31-And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32-But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.
1 Cor 10:13-There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

When Jesus announced to Peter that satan had asked His permission to sift him as wheat, out of all the things that Jesus could have done, i.e. bind satan, destroy satan, confuse satan's plan against Peter, Jesus bluntly told Peter that He would pray that Peter's faith would not fail. The phrase "that your faith would not fail" should have sent a message to Peter that something was coming that would shake him to his foundations.

Then, again, Paul said in first Corinthians that what Peter went through was a common occurrence. Who could give a greater testimony about the depth of trials than Paul? I'm inclined to believe Paul.

There was something else that Jesus knew that He didn't tell Peter. He knew that satan was limited only to the degree of the trial that Jesus' allowed AND NO FURTHER. Paul tells us that the moment God allows a trial to come our way, He also has set in place a blessing greater than the agony of the trial.

Jesus knew that Peter would fail. He plainly told Peter that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed. He knew how many and He knew the time. Peter did fail miserably and went out and wept bitterly about it. Jesus knew that, too, yet the next time He saw Peter He said absolutely nothing about it. Why? Jesus knew all about it before it happened. He expected Peter to fall but He prayed that Peter's faith would not fail.

Just because we fail during a trial doesn't mean that we are a total failure. Jesus knows our limitations. He knows how fragile we are and how strong we are. Then why did He allow Peter to go through that? Which leads us to the question, why does He let us go through the things we go through? How many times have you and I asked Him as well as ourselves that question?

God had a job for Peter to do. He knew that Peter wasn't ready for it. Peter needed a springboard of faith to launch him into God's plan for his life. God allowed him to be tempted to the point of failure because He had faith that Peter would bounce back stronger than ever. He knew that Peter's sorrow would give him enough grit in his gut to grab a hold of enough of Jesus to power him into the Day of Pentecost.

If we could look at what Peter went through during his ministry like we can Paul's, we would probably find a lot of ups and downs. We would see failures that led to launches. We would see Peter's faith take him higher than any trial could have brought him down.

If you're still on your knees because of the current trial you are going through, stay in tune with Jesus until the glory begins to manifest. It will be worth the wait.