Sifting

The most fascinating event that Heaven experiences is observing how God's people pass through fiery trials, tests of endurance and faithfulness, examinations of their attitude toward abundance and idleness. The entire Universe is very interested to discover what each of us will decide to do with the light sent to us. The heavenly beings are not indifferent to the character that people will possess who become part of the Heavenly family.

When I was 12 years old, during summer vacation, I was staying at my grandmother's in the village. My cousin and I would go to the local collective farm and look for work. Sometimes they would give us horses, and we would ride to haymaking to collect grass. And once they sent us to the elevator to monitor and service the sifting machine. I was very interested in watching how freshly collected grain was poured into a large pit from the machine, and it was fed into a special device with two sieves. When this mechanism was turned on, vibration would begin, and the incoming grain would go through sifting, reach a certain level, and move further according to the result obtained.

The first sieve would let all the grain pass through, only holding back large debris, which would roll off the sieve into a special opening. The second sieve would hold back good grain but had small holes through which dust, small debris, and all tiny seeds would pour down. Our task was to collect all the waste in buckets and load them onto a tractor trailer.

Clean grain was placed in a large cistern, where it would await its further fate. And for us, it was a great joy to jump into this container, burrow into the grains, and enjoy the unusual aroma of the fresh harvest.

Sifting is the process of purifying my character that all of God's people must necessarily go through. I think it is the most sad and solemn event that the Heavenly host experiences, watching God's children. The Lord pours out His light, which for some is the Bread of life, and for others a stumbling block. The Lord sends the fire of trials, which tempers soft characters and burns harmful impurities. This process of purification and hardening occurs constantly until the purified gold of a faithful character begins to reflect the image of its Creator.

God allows certain world elements and temptations that I am capable of enduring to crash into my life, and sometimes He Himself creates difficulties for me to teach me something and establish me in something.

Not everyone withstands these trials of faith. Some, like a mighty oak, endure all the onslaught of external storms but perish from small beetles of gossip, disputes, and grievances that quickly corrode the soul from within.

Some believe in God's mighty power in the lives of other people, rejoice in others' victories, but cannot entrust their own life to the Most High.

Some are very good at navigating darkness and know intuitively what is pure and what is not, but absolutely do not understand what to do with the abundance of light that comes into their life. And such a person rejects it.

We all have different exams and trials. We all have common light but see it from our own perspective. God takes into account our age, strength, intellect, existing knowledge, experience, developmental characteristics, and accordingly allows us to experience what will strengthen and teach us.

The enemy of the soul also has his sieve and very much wants to gather a worthless harvest into his granaries. He is ready to deceive, tempt, bewitch, and disappoint every person, just to obtain their soul. The bonds of darkness and spiritual death are very strong, and only a few manage to break them with God's help. But the Lord does not cease to invade the kingdom of darkness. He constantly sends us into the enemy's camp to snatch out the next soul.

Whether I want it or not, my life with Christ is full of trials, and my soul constantly passes through another sieve, which is tuned to God's standards and separates everything unclean.

Going through sifting is the most unpleasant process in the life of every child of God. Sometimes I become a tube that God's foot steps on, and such dirt comes out of me that I am horrified by the awareness of my inner content.

I shudder at what is happening and ask for God's mercy and strength to cleanse myself from this sin's filth, and the Lord washes me and does not allow this impurity to defile my soul again. But someone, like a dog, returns to their vomit or goes to wallow in the mud, not understanding what is happening.

Everything happening in the world now is also a kind of test that either affirms us in faith or leads us away from God. Each of my decisions can be a step toward growth or a descent carrying me to destruction.

Not all bad trials bring me evil, and not all good trials carry blessings for me. For some, abundance can be an occasion for charity, but for others, a temptation to satiety and idleness. But God desires to purify and test every believer before He forever places us in His crown as a shining diamond, so that we might continuously shine like stars. As long as we live, we will constantly experience the world's resistance, just as a living fish always swims against the current.

Not every fall or mistake of mine indicates that I am lost to Heaven. Such things are allowed in the process of growth or learning. And not every victory or success of mine testifies to my strength and faithfulness. In Christ's School, there is no final victory. The war will continue until the Second Coming or my last breath. Only one of these events will give a final assessment of my life.

The saddest category of people are not those whom the wind of trials returns to the world, but those of God's children who, seeing their sin, begin to justify it and teach others to do the same. People who call darkness light and do not want to change anything in their lives thereby blaspheme the Holy Spirit and incorrectly represent the pure God to those around them.

God's sieve is impartial, but it has many tender and merciful meshes through which all weak and infirm children pass. With what love and care our Good Shepherd leads into trials those who can do nothing without Him. He carries us in His arms so that the flame does not scorch and water does not drown. And everything proud and arrogant He humbles in the same sieve, passing through the meshes of justice and punishment, but not depriving them of love and care.

At the end of this path, the Lord desires to see His uniformity, His love and character in our diversity.

We also experience the pain of losing loved ones with whom we grew up, won victories, and learned to believe. These people live in our hearts, and losing them in another trial, it is impossible to believe that they are gone forever. And we continue to fight for them and convince them that they need to get up and move forward. But not always are we willing to be heard, and we understand that something is lost forever, never to rise again. This pain cannot be conveyed in words, but the heart knows it and weeps together with the loving God.

At the end of time, the most severe test of faith awaits us, and only those who have clothed themselves in Christ and established themselves in love will stand, so it is worth having this and learning it.

Questions for Reflection on this Chapter

1. Please read Luke 22:31-32; John 15:17-23; James 1:2-4,12; 1 Peter 1:6-9; 4:12-16; Daniel 3:11,17-18,23-26; 11:33-35; 12:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8:1-2; Isaiah 1:25; 10:20-23; 46:3-4; Jeremiah 33:8; Ezekiel 36:25; Romans 9:27-28; Romans 11:2-6; Revelation 14:12-13; John 12:35-36; 16:2-4 in light of this chapter.

2. What did you understand from this chapter?

3. How do you understand sifting? What is it? What does sifting look like in your life?

4. Do you think you have already gone through the sifting process?

5. Are all of your brothers continuing to participate in all spiritual projects and attend all meetings?

6. Do you know those who had faith and then went into the world? What might be the reason?

7. Why does God sift His people? After all, we are already few in this world.

8. Are you familiar with the saying: "Count your chickens in the fall"? Is there similarity with sifting?

9. Are you not afraid of the prospect of the most severe trials that await us ahead?

10. Why must gold be tested by fire?

11. Does the enemy of the soul know how firm I am in truth and where my weak points are?

12. Do you think these insights help prepare for the coming trials?

13. Should I engage in sifting and decide who is worthy of salvation and who will perish?

14. What should I do if I see that I did not stand in the trial and my faith is fading?

15. Should one be afraid of sifting? What is necessary to do if we are scared?