{"id":16840,"date":"2026-03-10T13:26:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/finding-god-in-unexpected-places\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:02:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:02:28","slug":"finding-god-in-unexpected-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/finding-god-in-unexpected-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding God in Unexpected Places"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This summer I have been reading\u00a0<em>Finding God in Unexpected Places<\/em>\u00a0by Philip Yancey\u00a0after coming across it in a Goodwill store\u2014the last place I expected to buy such a book. As a pastor, I have many conversations with people about their encounters with God and their faith journeys. And many think that God lives primarily within the walls of a church. But God\u2019s footprints are everywhere and in <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/the-big-question-how-does-one-find-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">places we never thought to look.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yancey writes:<\/p>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ada4f91 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ada4f91\" data-element_type=\"container\" id=\"home-banner-stn\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-72e6e8eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"72e6e8eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Community Newsletter<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-261bcec elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"261bcec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Get More Inspiration Delivered to Your Inbox<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9787b46 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-mobile__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget\" data-id=\"9787b46\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"front-banner-signup\" data-widget_type=\"wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<noscript class=\"ninja-forms-noscript-message\"><br \/>\n\tNotice: JavaScript is required for this content.<\/noscript><\/p>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FORM STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        #nf-form-5-cont {\n                                    background-color:#ffffff;\n                                                    border-radius:35px;\n-webkit-border-radius:35px;                    }\n    <\/style>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* 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25px;\",\"element_styles_background-color\":\"#ffffff\",\"element_styles_border-color\":\"#ffffff\",\"element_styles_advanced\":\"margin-bottom:0;nborder-radius: 25px;n-webkit-border-radius: 25px;\",\"manual_key\":true,\"id\":27,\"beforeField\":\"\",\"afterField\":\"\",\"parentType\":\"email\",\"element_templates\":[\"email\",\"input\"],\"old_classname\":\"\",\"wrap_template\":\"wrap\"},{\"objectType\":\"Field\",\"objectDomain\":\"fields\",\"editActive\":false,\"order\":2,\"idAttribute\":\"id\",\"label\":\"Subscribe Now\",\"type\":\"submit\",\"cellcid\":\"c4725\",\"processing_label\":\"Processing\",\"container_class\":\"\",\"element_class\":\"\",\"key\":\"subscribe_now_1660636976556\",\"wrap_styles_border\":\"\",\"wrap_styles_width\":120,\"wrap_styles_margin\":0,\"wrap_styles_padding\":0,\"wrap_styles_float\":\"\",\"wrap_styles_show_advanced_css\":1,\"element_styles_border\":\"\",\"element_styles_width\":120,\"element_styles_font-size\":\"\",\"element_styles_margin\":0,\"element_styles_padding\":0,\"element_styles_float\":\"\",\"element_styles_show_advanced_css\":0,\"submit_element_hover_styles_border\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_width\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_font-size\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_margin\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_padding\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_float\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_show_advanced_css\":0,\"wrap_styles_advanced\":\"\",\"element_styles_background-color\":\"#00ab84\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_background-color\":\"#00ab84\",\"drawerDisabled\":false,\"id\":28,\"beforeField\":\"\",\"afterField\":\"\",\"value\":\"\",\"label_pos\":\"above\",\"parentType\":\"textbox\",\"element_templates\":[\"submit\",\"button\",\"input\"],\"old_classname\":\"\",\"wrap_template\":\"wrap-no-label\"}];nfForms.push(form);<\/script><br \/>\n                <script id=\"nf-tmpl-cell\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-fields><\/nf-fields>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<p>        <script id=\"nf-tmpl-row\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-cells><\/nf-cells>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"rteindent1\">\u201cJesus himself looked for God not among the pious at the synagogue, but in a widow who had two pennies left to her name and in a tax collector who knew no formal prayers; he found his spiritual lessons in sparrows sold at a market, and in the wheat fields and wedding banquets, and yes, even in the observation of a mixed-race foreigner who had five failed marriages. Jesus was a mastermind at finding God in unexpected places.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This prompted me to think about my personal experience of <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/stories-of-faith-and-hope\/when-god-speaks-to-us-in-unexpected-ways\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">finding God in unexpected places<\/a> and people. Once as a zealous young street preacher, I was stopped by a homeless man asking for money. I decided to preach a long sermon before giving him the only coins I had. While I thought my message was what he needed, it was me who needed to see God in him. When I finally stopped talking and gave him the coins, his eyes locked with mine. He said, \u201cKeep your money.\u201d In other words, that was a lot of preaching for so little.<\/p>\n<p>His look, words, broken body and spirit from living on the streets pierced my soul. At that moment, I saw <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/life-advice\/finding-life-purpose\/this-traveling-hairstylist-transforms-the-homeless\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">God in the homeless<\/a> and realized my method was not the way of the Gospel, best preached with love and actions\u2014and words if needed.<\/p>\n<p>Another experience that has stayed with me took place four days after the <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/miracles\/gods-grace\/remembering-tragedy-and-miracles-on-911\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">9\/11 attacks in New York City<\/a> in 2001. Along with other pastors, I went to Ground Zero where the World Trade Center had once stood to offer spiritual support to first responders.<\/p>\n<p>In the midst of the smoke and smells, the twisted metal and mountain of debris were <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/inspiring-stories\/stories-of-faith-and-hope\/20-years-after-9-11-how-one-truth-remains\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">signs of God\u2019s presence.<\/a> Along with the fear, anger and sadness of that day, I remember first responder teams working together in hopes of finding someone alive or even a body. Religious leaders from different faiths united there in one spirit and faith as we prayed together. God was in that soaring wreckage with the living and the dead.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, God can be found in the great cathedrals of Europe with its <a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/travel\/antoni-gaudi-built-a-majestic-church-for-the-people-of-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">magnificent art and architecture,<\/a> or in a modest church building. But His footprints are also elsewhere, waiting to be discovered. Where have you unexpectedly found God?<\/p>\n<div>\n<div style=\"position: relative; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute;\" title=\"Lou Dean on Growing Closer to God in the Great Outdoors\" src=\"https:\/\/video.guideposts.org\/players\/kUTsuvfC-BFfHpwYy.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"auto\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This summer I have been reading\u00a0Finding God in Unexpected Places\u00a0by Philip Yancey\u00a0after coming across it in a Goodwill store\u2014the last place I expected to buy such a book. As a pastor, I have many conversations with people about their encounters with God and their faith journeys. And many think that God lives primarily within the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":27111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[135,185],"tags":[276,15,16,181,26,55,56,14],"ppma_author":[486],"class_list":["post-16840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiring-stories","category-stories-of-faith-and-hope","tag-empty-nest","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-homeless","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-loss","tag-spiritual-growth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Finding God in Unexpected Places - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding God in Unexpected Places\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This summer I have been reading\u00a0Finding God in Unexpected Places\u00a0by Philip Yancey\u00a0after coming across it in a Goodwill store\u2014the last place I expected to buy such a book. 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