The Foolishness of Wisdom
- edenmunciepastor
- Mar 15
- 4 min read
Encounter: The Wilderness as a Place of Revelation - find a quiet place each day to meditate on the 730+ scriptures along with Matthew 7:24-29 & James 3:13-18.
Earlier this week I spent a little time on the beach at Anna Maria Island. As I walked along the shoreline, I noticed a group of children carefully building sandcastles. They worked with intense concentration—packing sand into towers, shaping walls, digging little moats around their creations. Every now and then they would step back and admire what they had made.
For a while, their sandcastles looked impressive. Beautiful, even.
But everyone on the beach knew something the children were trying not to think about: the tide was coming in.
Little by little the water crept closer. A wave reached the first castle and softened its edges. Another wave followed, and a tower collapsed. Within minutes the castles that had seemed so solid were simply gone—washed back into the sand from which they were made.
Watching this unfold reminded me of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7. He spoke about two builders. One built his house on sand; the other built on rock. When the storms came, the house built on sand could not stand. Only the house built on the rock endured.
In many ways our culture encourages us to build sandcastles with our lives. Social media and modern influencers promise a version of “the good life”—carefully edited images of perfect homes, perfect families, perfect success. They suggest that fulfillment can be found through the right purchases, the right routines, or the right kind of self-improvement.
Even the American church culture can get caught up in the idol of success, popularity and false humility, drawing people to certains forms that promote comfort and self centered "substitute satisfaction."
But Scripture points us toward something deeper. Paul writes that Christ himself is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). The life that truly stands is the one built on the teachings and presence of Jesus, our true refuge. His wisdom may appear foolish to the world—humility instead of self-promotion, mercy instead of competition, service instead of status—but it forms a foundation that can withstand life’s storms.
This week the church also remembers St. Patrick. Many people associate Patrick with Ireland, but his spiritual formation began in a wilderness season. As a teenager he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. For six years he lived as a shepherd in lonely fields and hills. In that wilderness he learned to pray. Patrick later wrote that the love of God grew stronger in him during those years, and he found himself praying constantly—sometimes a hundred prayers a day.
What looked like suffering became the place where God formed his heart.
Years later Patrick returned to Ireland—not as a captive, but as a missionary. The wilderness that once seemed like tragedy became the place where God revealed wisdom and calling.
The Desert Fathers and Mothers understood this pattern well. They often went into the wilderness intentionally, seeking silence and solitude so they could hear God’s voice more clearly. They discovered that when the noise of the world fades, wisdom begins to speak.
Proverbs tells us that wisdom is calling out. It is not hidden from us; it is waiting to be heard.
Lent invites us into that same kind of listening.
It is a season to step away from the distractions that shape our lives and ask again what foundation we are building on.
Are we building sandcastles—impressive for a moment but easily swept away?
Or are we building on the rock—on Christ, the wisdom of God?
May the wilderness places of our lives become places of revelation, where we hear the voice of wisdom and learn to build lives that will stand.
With you in the wilderness,
Pastor T
Reflect & Small Group Discussion Questions
In the video, Pete talked about how Saint Patrick, having been freed from being a slave in Ireland, received a call from God in a dream to go back to the place he was enslaved and proclaim the message of Christ.
1. Where do you feel that God might be calling you to do something difficult or uncomfortable for him?
2. Jesus calls us to not only hear his words, we must also put them into practice (Matthew 7:24–29). What aspect of Jesus’ teaching do you find most challenging in your daily decision making?
3. James 3:13–18 contrasts worldly wisdom with heavenly wisdom. In what everyday decisions do you feel most tempted towards self-interest or ambition, and how might humility reshape those decisions?
4. Saint Patrick famously prayed these words: “Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me” Reflect on the challenge that lies in this prayer. Do you find it likely that people are led to think of Christ when they have spent time with you?
5. The Bible tells us to freely ask God for wisdom and then trust that we have received it (James 1:5). Share with the group where you feel you most need the wisdom of God in your life today
Spiritual Practice: Watch this week's video and each morning in the next week or when it fits best in your schedule (mornings are best:) Listen to The Deer's Cry as we seek to learn from St. Patrick.
The Deer’s Cry -
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