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But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things\u2014and the things that are not\u2014to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God\u2014that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: \u201cLet the one who boasts boast in the Lord.\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:27-31)

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Maybe it\u2019s too early to be writing this devotion, but with a warm sunny day outside, I can\u2019t help but think ahead.

Early on in this pandemic, there was a mad scramble to get ahead of the curve: think through what the next weeks or months would require of us and act on it.\xa0 We looked for wise experts who could tell us what was coming.\xa0

Now Spring is here in 2021 and I\u2019m thinking ahead again.\xa0 It was one thing to pivot into the pandemic.\xa0 It\u2019ll be another to pivot out of it.\xa0 Sure the end is a long way off yet and will probably happen more gradually than suddenly, but it will eventually come.

When it does, we\u2019ll again have to make decisions in our lives about when to re-engage with social activities, and which ones.\xa0 When to do something in person rather than online.\xa0 Eventually we\u2019ll even have to decide as a society when it\u2019s time to rescind the mask mandate.\xa0

As a church we\u2019ll also have to think about pews and tables, worship services, youth and children\u2019s programs, meetings, technology, Wilderness Wanderings devotions, and much more.\xa0 All things that have shifted during the pandemic.\xa0 We\u2019ll be tempted to take the shortest path back to normal.\xa0

But actually, there never was really was such a thing as \u201cnormal.\u201d\xa0 Our lives change constantly, as any healthy living thing does.\xa0 If you don\u2019t believe me, just wait until you see families reappear in church with toddlers that didn\u2019t exist this time last year!\xa0 The church we left, is not the church we\u2019ll return to.

In the last year, our church has changed.\xa0 Our lives have changed.\xa0 Our world has changed.\xa0 The idea of \u201cnormal\u201d itself has changed.\xa0 Though, none of us are quite sure how just yet.\xa0 And so again, we\u2019ll be looking for wisdom to help inform our \u201cpivoting\u201d out of this pandemic.\xa0 \xa0\xa0

But what kind of wisdom will we look for?\xa0 The kind that will help us to be the strongest, the best, or the most secure people and church that we can be?\xa0 That likely wouldn\u2019t be far from the truth.\xa0

But Paul reminds us here today: our hope is not in the strong things, or in going back to the \u201cnormal\u201d things, or even the most sure and secure things that already are.\xa0 Our hope is in Christ.\xa0 The invitation is to become fools in the eyes of everyone else as we entrust ourselves and our plans to this God who has brought about our righteousness, holiness, and redemption, and who isn\u2019t finished with us yet.\xa0 He continues to move, doing new things.\xa0 And he beckons us to follow: stepping into things unseen, the things that are not, so that in the end, all the glory and boasting goes to him.\xa0

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