Another Intimate Moment with Peter

So my first question is: why does Satan get all this preferential treatment from God? He gets to strip Job of everything he has, all his possessions, wife, kids, health... he gets to spend forty days in the desert with Jesus, goading him on to reject his destiny... and now he gets to sift Peter like wheat? What's with that anyway?

Just what kind of relationship does Satan have with God that God gives in to his whims and demands? Does he share some dark secret from the beginning of time? Does he get to have his way because he was once the brightest and most beautiful angel in the hosts of heaven? Another question for God when I see Him!

So Peter gets sifted and falls short (yet again). I love Gire's description: "The winnowing is over... he could winnow all the chaff he wanted, but the wheat belongs to Jesus." That would be my prayer: that there's a small kernal of wheat somewhere amidst all the chaff. Every one of us has our share of chaff, some more than others. Mine seems to be immense at times. I'm reading Anne Lamott's latest book Plan B where she talks about the "church of 80% sincerity", which, if we can manage to muster that much in life, we're doing pretty well. I'd have to agree. Peter at least was aware that Satan was doing the nasty work. some days I'm even confused about that.