Then we, the living ones who remain (on the earth), 
shall simultaneously be caught up along with (the resurrected dead) 
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; 
and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) 
we shall be with the Lord!  1 Thessalonians 4:17

“…I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations 
as grain is shaken in a sieve…”  Amos 9:9-10

The Hebrew word translated here as “sieve” is used of the coarse sieve used to separate the corn from earth and stones.  The corn passed through, but not the stones. 

“I’m throwing Israel into a sieve among all the nations and shaking them good, shaking out all the sin, all the sinners.  No real grain will be lost but all the sinners will be sifted out and thrown away…”  (version The Message)

For hardened sinners in Israel this process will silence their complacent belief that “disaster will not overtake…us” (v. 10).  At the same time, it shows that judgment will be purifying and purposeful.  For all its painful associations, it offers the hope that all is not lost.

God’s people are not granted immunity from trials or discipline or even suffering.  However, it is better to be put through God’s sieve that final good may ensue than to be cast aside without hope or a future.