The Season Of Sifting

It doesn't feel good, but the fruit is worth it!

It is truly hard to believe that tomorrow is the first day of school for my kids! My oldest son, Jake, is headed to 10th grade. My second son, Josh, starts high school and my “little” girl, Hannah Grace, is headed to middle school! Where in the world has the summer gone, and even more so, where in the world has time gone??

This summer has been unique for me. This is the first time in a couple of months that I have blogged. Quite frankly, I’ve been trying to giving my brain a little bit of a rest. I took four Sundays off as well from my church, although I preached several times with a couple of camps and scheduled services in other cities. We spent a week at the beach, got a new dog named buddy, and tried to get our new house in order. It’s been a busy, full, yet fun summer. 

In the midst of it all, I have personally been in what I would call a “season of sifting.” I feel like I have been under the microscope of the Holy Spirit and He has had me in the middle of a pressure cooker of greater levels of consecration. Have you ever been there? The truth is…

I believe God is desiring to purify his people, His church, and to ready us(me) for his return….

I believe God is desiring to sift ministries, and the men and women who lead them, in order to purify the testimony of His church and his people before a lost and dying world. 

I believe God is desiring to cause his people to look into the mirror, just a little more closely, and to expose what has been hiding in the shadows so that we might…well…come out from the shadows! 

After all, if you haven’t noticed lately…

Ministries, ministers, and churches that have embraced corruption are being brought to the light. 

Sin that has not been repented of is being brought to the surface….

Even in the secular world, words shared in the past and shameful deeds are being exposed. No twitter feed is “safe” anymore. It seems like people are being held accountable (regardless of the true motive behind the exposure) in one way or another for things lurking in the darkness. 

And how much more should the church be held accountable? 

How much more should I be held accountable? 

Now before I go any further, let me go ahead and say, “No, I’m not about to confess some grave sin!” 

But I will tell you that I feel like I am in the cross hairs of the Holy Spirit, as He is desiring to purify me, sanctify me, and make me holy (and whole) to a brand new level. 

This work does not always feel good.

This work can cut deep to the heart. 

But it is a good work. 

It is a necessary work. 

It is a work of His love and His grace. 

For it is true that “God loves us too much to leave us as we are.”

And it is also true that….

  • Judgment begins in the house of God..
  • We must allow God to finish our unfinished business because our unfinished business can finish us!

And….

  • The devil will exploit our weaknesses to WEAKEN our walk! 

So let’s embrace the sifting. You see, the purpose of sifting is two fold:

1).  Sifting ultimately keeps me from drifting. 

Ever swam in the ocean only to look up and discover that you have unintentionally drifted from where your feet first entered the water? It’s the same with the culture of the day we are living in. If we don’t live our lives counter culture—with the cross and death to self front and center—we will drift. And I believe God is desiring to keep his church, to keep me, from drifting from our first love!

2).  Sifting is what brings the ultimate shifting we are longing for.   

It seems that people are longing for a fresh start in life like never before. It also seems like we continue to declare a “new season,” without seizing the discipline of keeping Christ front and center of our lives. And the truth is, if we want something fresh in our faith, we must embrace faithfulness to Him first and foremost. Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.  True, personal, and deep revival always begins with repentance and we can no longer avoid this truth. But what a promise awaits for those who apply this principle! 

So how?

How do you seize the unpopular and often despised season of sifting? 

1).  Surrender.

Embrace it. Welcome it. Want it. Allow God to deal with it on a heart level. Don’t avoid it. Don’t shun it. Again, welcome it and surrender to it. 

2). Get started.

Usually, not always, but usually, when God wants to sift us he starts by putting his finger on something key in our lives. It may be finally dealing with hurt from the past. It could be dealing, finally, with a sin that so easily entangles. Or it could be finally saying “yes” to a plan, purpose, or calling that you have been running from. Whatever “it” is for you—start there. See point #1 and take the first step in dealing with “it.”

3). Stay soft.

When the fire gets turned up a little, don’t harden your heart. Stay soft before God. Endure. Allow His grace to finish the work He has started. Don’t give up half way! Allow God to go all the way this time. 

4).  Stay in step with the Spirit.

You will find that when God does a new work in you—you must learn to keep in step with the new and not fall back into the footsteps of the old. I am so grateful for God’s grace in this learning curve. His Holy Spirit empowers us from the inside out to fulfill Galatians 5:25.  “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” God will help you catch a new stride—to act according to your faith and not your feelings and to train yourselves to become Godly (1 Timothy 4:7). 

Not sure what your summer has been like—but it’s good to get back to a little writing. It’s even better, I’m learning, to embrace God’s work in your life—whatever that work might be. For me, it’s been the season of sifting…

How about you?

Mike