August 15, 2025

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from church late in the evening.  It was around sunset and as I came over a hill, I was just caught by the sky.  I don’t know if you’ve ever had a moment when you just know God is real. I’m not sure what it was about the sky that night, it could have been the conversations I was having at church leading up to the drive home.  Conversations about community and the ways God moves through relationships.  There I was, driving home and this sense of peace and joy overwhelmed me.  I was driving home, in the presence of God. 

Have you ever experienced God in the ordinary?  In the day-to-day moments?  It’s powerful to notice God in small, everyday moments. Sometimes we see Him immediately; sometimes we only realize it in hindsight.  Sometimes we find God in the moment, and sometimes it’s later, that we look back and see that God showed up in this small seemingly ordinary space. 

In 1 Kings chapter 19, Elijah was in the presence of God, but it wasn’t in the storm, or the fire.  God was in the small simple whisper.

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13

We often expect God to show up in dramatic, life-changing ways. Scripture reminds us that God more often than not shows up in the small everyday moments that can easily be missed if we are not paying attention.  For Elijah, God wasn’t in the fire or the storm, he was in the small gentle whisper. 

That evening driving home, I didn’t see a miracle in the sky.  There was nothing spectacular and yet, I felt Him. I felt peace. I felt joy. I felt hope. In a world that tells us significance comes from doing more, achieving more, or producing more, God reminds us that His presence is already here—in the small things, the everyday rhythms of life.

I think that’s the heart of what it means to notice God in the ordinary. It’s about training our eyes and hearts to see Him, even in the mundane. It’s about slowing down enough to recognize His whispers in conversations, in quiet drives home, in the laughter of friends, in mowing the yard. God is faithful, not just when life is dramatic, but when life is ordinary—and sometimes, it’s in those ordinary moments that we most clearly see His love at work.

So how do we start noticing God in the ordinary? Here are a few ways to begin this week:

Pause intentionally – Take a few minutes in your day to slow down. Whether it’s your morning coffee, your commute, or washing dishes, ask God to open your eyes to His presence.

Reflect on the day – Before bed, think through moments that brought you peace, joy, or hope. Often, looking back helps us see the gentle whispers we missed in real-time.

Share your story – Tell someone about a moment you noticed God. When we name what God is doing, we reinforce our awareness of His presence and encourage others to do the same.

These small practices help us train our hearts to notice Him. God isn’t absent in the ordinary; He is inviting us into awareness, into gratitude, and into a rhythm where even the small moments carry eternal significance.

God shows up in ways we don’t expect—in a gentle whisper, a quiet conversation, or a sunset on the drive home.  He is present in the ordinary, and He longs for us to see Him. This week, may you open your eyes, pause in the small moments, and notice the extraordinary work of God around you. Because when we begin to see Him in the ordinary, our hearts are filled with hope, joy, and the confidence that God is always, always present.

Kevin Smith

Colerain Campus Pastor

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