Finding Glory in the Ordinary

I’m drawn to share a profound truth that has transformed my everyday existence. It began with a simple realization that crept into my consciousness during an ordinary morning, like the gentle dawn light that shone through my home office curtains this morning—a realization that what appeared ordinary was actually sacred ground.

For years, I moved through my days with a subtle disconnect. I ate breakfast while scrolling through news, worked through afternoons with mechanical precision, and collapsed into evenings with exhaustion. My spiritual life existed in compartments—Sunday mornings, evening prayers, occasional moments of transcendence. But something was missing in the connective tissue of my everyday existence.

The turning point came unexpectedly. I was sipping my morning coffee, the same ritual I’d performed thousands of times before, when the words of Scripture suddenly illuminated my understanding: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

I paused mid-sip. Could this mundane moment—this ordinary cup of coffee—actually be sacred space?

What unfolded from that realization has been nothing short of transformative. The Holy Spirit began revealing to me that the spiritual life isn’t meant to be compartmentalized but integrated into every breath, every action, every ordinary moment.

The revelation didn’t make my days more dramatic or obviously miraculous. I still cleaned up after my children. I still sat in traffic. I still experienced fatigue and frustration. But beneath the surface of these seemingly ordinary moments, something profound was happening—a divine knitting together of a new life within me.

I discovered that walking in the Spirit doesn’t mean escaping ordinary life; it means bringing sacred awareness to it. My morning coffee became something for which I was grateful. My commute became contemplation. My work became worship. Not because I manufactured spiritual feelings, but because I recognized the Spirit’s presence already there, inviting me to collaboration.

What surprised me most was how this transformation manifested. I expected the Spirit’s work in my life would primarily involve removing negative patterns, and certainly, that pruning occurred. But the true evidence of His presence wasn’t what was removed but what was cultivated. Like a master gardener, He began nurturing fruits I couldn’t have produced on my own: patience during challenging situations, unexpected joy in difficult circumstances, kindness toward those who tested me.

Each day, I found myself being subtly reshaped into Christ’s image—”from one degree of glory to another,” as Scripture beautifully expresses it (2 Corinthians 3:18). Some days the transformation was barely perceptible; other days brought breathtaking moments of clarity. But always, consistently, the Spirit was working, whether I perceived it or not.

For those searching for meaning and purpose, I offer this encouragement: look not first to dramatic changes or momentous decisions, but to the sacredness of this very moment. The same Spirit who parted seas and raised the dead is intimately involved in your ordinary day. The glory of God doesn’t skip your mundane tasks; it invades them.

Your spiritual journey isn’t measured by mountain-top experiences but by the quiet transformation happening in everyday faithfulness. The fruits growing in your life—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22–23)—these are the evidence of the Spirit’s dwelling.

As you move through your days—as you eat and drink, work and rest—remember that none of your now is the same as it was. Below the surface of your perceptions, God is knitting together a new, miraculous, unfinished life in you—by His Spirit. And this truth changes everything.