Would you say that it is a daily struggle within us to pursue the direction of the Holy Spirit, instead of our innate nature?  Would you say that our instinctive nature so easily disposes itself to us and controls our “knee jerk” words, thoughts and actions in our everyday living?  I can safely say that has undoubtedly been my experience.  Over time I have been able to more clearly discern and hear the leading of the Holy Spirit to follow a certain path.  But these discernments have, more often than I would like to admit, been drowned out by my selfish desires.  Yet I have a genuine desire to do the will of God and when I fail to follow His will, I am disappointed with my choices.  I can beat myself up over wrong words said, or for not saying anything at all; for not acting when I knew someone needed me; for thinking or judging when I knew I had no right to do so. This is temptation, isn’t it?  We will all be tested throughout our lives, and the reality is, that we all have been tested, and we will continue to be tested in the days ahead.

Looking at the book of Luke 22:31-32, we see Jesus foretelling the temptation that Peter (previously named Simon, before Jesus changed his name) would be faced with .

 ³¹ “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

I believe that we, like Peter, are tempted continuously throughout our lives.  But if we look at Luke, we see the beauty of Jesus’ words in this foretelling. First, we see that Jesus identifies that “Satan has asked”, which makes it clear that every temptation that is cast upon us, remains within the ultimate power and control of God.  We see that in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”  With every temptation that is put before us, we are given every provision to see us through that temptation, the question is are we accessing the toolbox that is given to us to work through the temptation?

As I thought of “toolbox”, I thought of my husband immediately.  As a tradesman, I asked him, what were three key tools that he would put in his tool belt if that was all he could take.   This is what he said:

• A speed square – you have to make sure things are square
• Hammer – to build or to take things apart
• Pencil – to create design and to make necessary markings

I think that the spiritual tool belt that God gives us has these core tools carefully placed within it.  Consider the following with me, if you will:

• The bible – our speed square – our truth and source that we measure all things against
• Prayer – our hammer – we pray during these times that God would build in us what needs to be built, maybe it is compassion, maybe it is thanksgiving, etc.. Or we pray that He takes apart or dismantles the strongholds in our lives that keep us from Him and His will for our lives, maybe that is pride, or selfishness, etc.
• Holy Spirit – the pencil – to map out and guide us in how we move through this temptation

Going back to Luke 22: 32, next Jesus says, “but I have prayed for you Simon”.  It is so beautiful to me that Jesus comes alongside Peter and prays for Him.  What a precious thought, Jesus praying for us.  Who else would you want to pray for you, but the Son of God, the One who gave His life for you, so that you would have life? Jesus starts this segment with “but”, such a small word with a powerful meaning.  According to the dictionary, the definition is:

• “used to introduce something contrasting with what has already been mentioned.”
• “used to indicate the impossibility of anything other than what is being stated.”

To me it emphasizes the power and certainty of Jesus’ prayer and the resulting effect it will have upon Peter’s in spite of his forthcoming temptation.  It brings me great relief and comfort to know that Jesus prays for us throughout and before our temptation.

What does Jesus pray for? “That your faith may not fail”.  That our doubts and Satan’s lies do not overtake and cause us to abandon our faith.  That throughout the temptation, even if our eyes do not reveal what we hope to see, we continue to stand firm in faith, believing in God.

My favorite part is when Jesus says, “and when you turn back”, He didn’t say “and if” – He said “and when”. We will make it through the trial, but we don’t know what that will look like. For Peter, he sinned three times, denying Jesus.  After the third time, his trial had ended.  If we look at Peter before his trial, we see that he says he would never deny Jesus, in fact he even goes so far as to say he would lose his life first. In a commentary I read, the scholar identified this as Peter’s pride and self-reliance – “God broke the back of Peter’s pride and self-reliance that night through Satan’s sieve.”  We see that through Peter’s temptation, he fell into sin and his weaknesses were revealed to him.  Peter “turned back” when he realized he sinned, he turned back to God seeking forgiveness, with a repentant heart.

In the last part of this verse Jesus says, “strengthen your brothers”.  Strengthen – to make stronger; spiritually stronger.  How does one make their brothers spiritually stronger?  Jesus expects Peter to share his experience so that others would learn and grow.  One commentary says “That they who have been overtaken in this manner should make use of their experience to warn and preserve others from the same path.” What does that look like to us today?  My thoughts are that it means being honest with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  It means sharing the life struggles that we have been through and the lessons that Jesus has taught us throughout the process.  It means having the potential to spare someone else heartache and maybe even learning the lesson vicariously through us.

I hope you have found these verses to be as beautiful as I have and that in your times of temptation, you would wear your spiritual tool belt and use the tools God give us.  I hope you remember the beauty that waits for you on the other side of the temptation “when you turn back”, bringing you another step further in your personal transformation into the likeness of Jesus.

Father you promise to never leave us, never abandon us and even in these moments of temptation in our lives we see that not only does Your Son Jesus pray for us, You forgive us, refine us and continue to transform us.  Thank you Father, that you love us and never leave us unchanged. Amen.