Discouraged by life's difficulties - both life-shifting catastrophes and the drip-drip-drip of daily trouble? Dissatisfied with the same old pat answers about God's role in our hard times?

Rick Lawrence offers fresh biblical perspective based on a single Scripture snapshot - Luke 22:31-32. Jesus tells Peter he's about to be "sifted like wheat" - shaken hard, beaten, and agitated until he practically falls apart. Satan's going to do it. And Jesus is going to allow it, in the interest of showing Peter who he really is.

Lawrence uses the simple agrarian metaphor of sifting as a jumping-off point for a rigorously honest, deeply challenging, yet powerfully comforting exploration of the trials that beat us down, the good God who allows our troubles, and the incredible beauty the process of sifting can reveal in us.


Rick Lawrence is the long-time 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 31 books (authored, coauthored or edited), hundreds of articles, and a small-group curriculum to his credit.