When Times Get Tough

Luke 22:31-32 (ESV) “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

So much of the advancement in technology in the last two centuries has been to increase our comfort and decrease our pain. Medicine, transportation, entertainment, recreation, and even furniture has been improved over and over to give us the illusion that life should be pain free. So, we tend to be surprised when tough times come. Yet come, they still do. Each of us, often at regular intervals, faces challenges, whether physical, economic, relational, or emotional. These seasons can overwhelm us with no seeming hope of overcoming them.

Although each of us might feel alone at these times, we are in good company. In the midst of the Last Supper, Jesus warned Peter he was facing a tough night and season ahead. Like Job long before him, Satan was given permission to test him, to “sift him like wheat” – that process of pulling the hard husk off of the sweet edible grain inside. The season was to be very painful, and, aside from Jesus’ prayers, there was no guarantee it would go well. In the midst of the hardest, most painful, times, Peter’s temptation would have been to give up and quit. So, Jesus told him he prayed specifically that “his faith would not fail.”

As painful and seemingly pointless at the time that season of sifting would be to Peter, it was to end. “When you have returned…” indicates he would make it through to a better time. That better time brought with it a new mission for Peter: “Strengthen your brothers.” Jesus implied that Peter would not have been in a position to help his friends in their challenging circumstances had he not made it through his own.

Few of us seek difficult times, and many of us are tempted to quit when it gets tough. Yet, tough times do not last. Jesus’ prayers and the help of our friends can get us through those seasons that make us stronger so we can help others. If you are in such a season right now, don’t quit. You are getting stronger than you realize.