When Familiar Becomes a Blindfold
Jesus was a miracle—standing right in front of them.
And they couldn’t see it.
They stumbled over it. Not physically—but in their hearts.
They couldn’t wrap their minds around it, so they rejected it.
He didn’t fit the picture they had in their heads. Too familiar. Too ordinary.
Isn’t this the carpenter?
Mary’s boy? The one with all the brothers and sisters?
Didn’t he fix our neighbor’s table last year?
It was too close to home.
And that made it too hard to believe.
And honestly, it’s got me thinking:
How many miracles am I missing because they don’t look like miracles?
How many answers have I shrugged off because they didn’t show up in the way I expected?
Sometimes we act like God only works in big, loud, obvious ways.
But what if He moves quietly, right in front of us, and we just… miss it?
I keep thinking about that line from Nathaniel—“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”
It’s such a human question. I’ve asked versions of it too:
Can anything good come from that job I didn’t want?
That season I didn’t plan?
We can get so locked into the idea that God only works a certain way.
But He’s the Creator. The Author of it all. He doesn’t stick to templates.
It’s like trying to recognize a guitar maker by only one guitar.
“This one’s acoustic. That one’s electric. That can’t be the same guy.”
But if you played it… if you got close… if you looked at the craftsmanship… you’d start to notice.
The tone. The shape. The maker’s mark.
You’d realize:
This came from the same hands.
Maybe what looks ordinary is actually sacred.
Maybe the miracle is already in the room.
But it just doesn’t look the way you thought it would.
Today, I’m asking God to help me see it.
To pay attention.
To stay open.
Because I don’t want to trip over the very thing He’s trying to give me.
Some questions to reflect on:
Is there something in your life that feels too plain to be a gift from God?
Are you waiting for something “big” while ignoring what’s right in front of you?
Who or what have you dismissed lately that might deserve a second look?
