By Dr. Verlyn Fontaine Waterman | Who Is She! Blog
This word SIFT was not one I was given to meditate on directly—but it arose from the deep stillness of my spirit this morning, unprovoked and yet undeniably divine. I’ve come to recognize that when a word arrests my thoughts like this, it is heaven calling my attention to something hidden yet holy.
I am presently in a spiritual shift. In this liminal space between the “what was” and the “what will be,” I sense things—circumstances, memories, and people—resurfacing. Some have reappeared in my personal life. Others echo through conversations, media, or uninvited thoughts. Initially, the sudden reemergence of these fragments stirred unrest in me. But as I quieted my spirit, I realized: this is not an attack—it is a sifting.
God is not reintroducing these moments or relationships so that I dwell in regret or nostalgia. He is allowing them to surface that I may sift through them—examining what is worthy to keep and what must finally be released. Some relationships, once emotionally weighted, may now hold only a single gem—an insight, a lesson, a reminder. That treasure must be retrieved and the rest discarded with grace.
The Biblical Dimension of Sifting
In Luke 22:31–32, Jesus tells Peter:
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.”
To sift in the biblical sense (Greek: siniázo) is to shake violently, to agitate like grain being tossed into the wind—so that the chaff is removed, and only the true kernel remains. The enemy’s goal in this sifting is destruction. But Jesus does not rebuke Satan for asking. Instead, He allows the process—and intercedes not to stop the sifting, but to preserve the faith of the one being sifted.
Why? Because true faith is only revealed in the sift.
The Spiritual Purpose of the Sift
Sifting is a sacred disruption.
It is God allowing things to rise to the surface—not to harm us, but to purify what’s within us. The process exposes:
• False beliefs masquerading as faith
• Unforgiven hurts disguised as strength
• Soul ties that look like love but chain the spirit
• Dreams that were not born in God, but in comparison
When we are in a spiritual sift, we are not being punished—we are being prepared. It is the threshing floor of transformation. It is the moment when Heaven allows the winds of life to separate the wheat from the chaff, not just in our surroundings, but within our own hearts.
The Metaphysical Perspective
From a metaphysical standpoint, sifting is the process by which our inner consciousness is agitated—shaken—not to destroy us, but to awaken us. It is the Divine Mind stirring the soul’s contents so that what is not in alignment with truth, love, or purpose is dislodged.
Sifting awakens the subconscious. Things buried beneath years of survival and silence begin to rise. Old attachments resurface not to reattach, but to be recognized for what they truly were—and to be finally set free.
This is not random.
This is God’s metaphysical alignment process: bringing all that is hidden into the Light so that we may operate from clarity, wholeness, and divine certainty.
What God Wants Us to Know in the Sift
1. He allows the sifting to separate your essence from what you’ve outgrown.
2. He preserves your faith while everything else is tested.
3. He extracts the treasure even from what felt like tragedy.
4. He doesn’t waste pain—even what was once harmful may contain a hidden revelation.
5. He reorders identity—the sift is not to show you what you lost, but what you really are.
God wants us to discern the sift, not just endure it.
When your emotions are stirred, when old voices echo, when you’re tempted to believe “nothing has changed”—pause. It could be that God is letting you handle the fragments one last time, to see what still has worth and what must be laid to rest.
How to Walk Through the Sift
• Be still—agitation is part of the process, but stillness reveals its purpose.
• Examine everything—what resurfaces is not accidental.
• Bless and release—let go with love what no longer fits your spiritual architecture.
• Gather the treasure—what wisdom, strength, or insight remains? That is the wheat.
• Anchor in faith—the enemy desires to break your faith, but Jesus is praying you through.
Final Reflection: The Divine Winnowing
Just as wheat is sifted and winnowed to remove the chaff, so are we. What you feel now is not confusion—it is clarification. The sift is not loss—it is preservation.
Let the Spirit sift. Let the wind blow. For what remains is what was meant to remain.
And you—purified, clarified, refined—will be able to walk forward, carrying only the treasures of your becoming.
Dr. Verlyn