A Biblical encounter that will first challenge you, then comfort you, then leave you changed.
Discouraged by life's difficulties–both the life-shifting catastrophes and the drip-drip-drip of your daily troubles? Dissatisfied with the same-old pat answers about God's role in our hard times? Rick Lawrence takes you on a surprising–even dangerous–journey into the deepest recesses of God's heart toward us. To get there, he drills deep into a single Scripture snapshot (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus tells Peter he's about to be "sifted like wheat"–shaken hard, beaten, and pitched into despair until he's separated from the person he always thought he was. Satan's going to do it. And Jesus is going to allow it. But why? Jesus makes no mistakes with His metaphors, and sifting offers a brutally honest picture of God's goodness at work on behalf of our freedom. Sifted is a rigorously honest, deeply challenging, yet powerfully redemptive exploration of the trials that beat us down, the good God who allows them, and the incredible beauty sifting can reveal in us.
About the Author:
Rick Lawrence is the longtime editor of Group magazine and co leader of the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. He also speaks frequently for conferences and workshops, consults for national research organizations, and publishes prolifically–with thirty-one books (authored, coauthored, or edited), hundreds of articles, and a small-group curriculum to his credit. Rick lives in Colorado with his wife and two daughters.