Time magazine once had an article about the Roman Catholic Church in New York and Cardinal O'Conner and the sensitive way he had endeavored to enable his priests to do battle with demonic forces within that archidocese as evidenced in the occult, child pornography, the destruction of human beings by drugs, murder, sexual disease and Satanism. That's right. Satanism.

Granted, we must be careful we don't go overboard in what we say, attributing everything that goes wrong to forces outside of ourselves, abdicating our responsibility. At the same time, though, we must take the Scripture seriously, being resistant to those endeavors to "demythologize" which robs God's Word of the truth of one of its most basic teachings, that there is a personal Satan. There are demonic forces, and we have to recognize them for what they are.

I agree with the cardinal that there is a place on occasion for an exorcism. The reality is that we are in a spiritual battle, and we need to be armed for it. Our adversary is wily, is crafty, and he prefers to take no prisoners. He would just as soon shoot the walking wounded -- except God doesn't give him that power.

Jesus alerted Peter in advance to the fact that Satan was out to get him. It would be a joy to Satan to see Peter fall and a joy to Satan to see you fall. If he can't destroy you, at least he would like to molest you, defiling you, seducing you into a time of alienation from your Savior. Even if he can't permanently ruin your soul, he would love to destroy the quiet, the joy and the peace which is God's gift to you.

Truth two: Satan is permitted to test your mettle.

I think it would be very frustrating to be Satan. God has allowed Satan certain parameters within which he can function. At the same time, God has put limits on what Satan can do. In fact, God actually uses Satan. Jesus describes that use. He refers to it in agricultural terms when He says, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat."

123 of us journeyed to the Middle East. While we were there we saw Arabs, who still do dry farming, who on the threshing floor sift the wheat on the threshing floor. They throw the wheat and the chaff up in the air together, allowing the wind to blow the lighter chaff away. The wheat grains, which are heavier, fall to the ground.

Somehow Satan's temptations are allowed to sift us for ourselves, to strengthen us so we can see who we really are, as empowered by the Lord. It may be the tough experience of a financial crisis, the deathly disease of someone very close to you, the unfaithfulness of someone you trusted. God is not the author of evil, but God does allow Satan to sift us. What Satan does, as temptation designed to destroy us, can -- if we properly appropriate God's resources -- be the making of us.

Sometimes God allows Satan to sift us not just for ourselves but for the sake of someone else. Where would you and I be today if there wasn't the example of Job, whom God allowed Satan to sift, who stands as a biography today of great encouragement to me and to you.