Why We Look for God in the Big Things and Miss the Small Ones

The Search for the Spectacular

Most people think of God as a giant lightning bolt or a booming voice from the clouds. We wait for the big miracle—the job offer out of nowhere, the sudden healing, or a sign written in the stars. But if you spend your whole life looking at the horizon for a massive storm, you might miss the gentle rain right in front of you. We have been trained to think that the divine only shows up for the spectacular, but that is rarely how the story goes.

The Divine in the Mundane

Finding a connection to something higher often has more to do with paying attention than with grand gestures. Think about the last time you felt a deep sense of peace for no reason. Maybe you were washing dishes, or walking to your car, or watching the sun hit a brick wall in a specific way. That quiet hum of existence—that feeling that you are part of something larger even when life feels small—is where the real conversation happens.

Many spiritual traditions talk about "thin places." These are spots where the veil between our world and the divine feels paper-thin. While people travel to ancient cathedrals or remote mountain peaks to find these places, they can actually happen in a kitchen at 5 AM. It is the moment you stop trying to figure everything out and simply exist in the present. When we stop demanding a show, we start noticing the presence.

A Constant Connection

We often treat God like an emergency service—someone to call only when there is a crisis. But what if the connection is more like the air we breathe? You do not notice the air until it is gone, yet it sustains every second of your life. When we stop looking for "proof" in the form of magic tricks, we start seeing it in the way a wound heals, the way a forest grows back after a fire, or the way a stranger offers help without being asked.

It does not take a theology degree to feel this. It just takes a bit of silence. In a world that is constantly screaming for our attention, silence has become the rarest thing we own. And yet, silence is often the primary language of the divine. If you want to find God, stop looking for the fireworks. Look at the match that starts the fire. Look at the warmth it provides. It is much closer than you think, hidden in plain sight within the very rhythm of your own heart.