Back to Normal?

     A lot of things have taken on a new look in 2020. Many gatherings take place only in cyberspace. The ones that do take place face to face have changed; temperature checks, face masks, and social distancing are now the norm. A phrase heard frequently is, "I can't wait for things to go back to normal." but is back to normal where we need to go?

     620 years before the birth of Jesus the king of Judah, Josiah, decided it was time to get the temple back into shape. As they were cleaning out to get ready to get the work started, the high priest, Hilkiah, made an interesting discovery. He found a copy of the Law buried in a closet. He immediately took it to the king. When the king heard the words contained in the book, he tore his clothes to shreds because he realized that their normal had strayed from the path that God had laid out for them. Their normal was not where they were supposed to be. Over the course of a few generations, "normal" had drifted further and further away from where it had started, tradition had replaced scripture. King Josiah recognized a chance for a reset, to go somewhere other than back to normal. (2 Kings 22:1-20)

     2020 has given us an opportunity to make just such a reset. Back to normal shouldn't be our desire, we need to go where God is leading us and that may not look anything like "normal". "We've always done it that way." is the best way to prevent growth and progress. Let's look forward and instead of going back to normal let's go forward to better. Let's look at this as a chance to figure out ways to to do things better, not to just keep doing things like we always have.