Encountering God Changes Direction | 2026 Pre-Conference Devotional
“They were willing to trust that divine truth could appear outside familiar systems and symbols. Their worship was an act of recognition, not control.”
Rev. Danny Cortez
As we get ready for the 2026 Anchored Conference in a few short weeks, we were curious to know: What piece of scripture or characteristic of God is anchoring you in this season? So, we posed that exact question to several members of the QCF Community. This week, recent QCF Board Member and current Parent & Family Advisory Council Member, Rev. Danny Cortez, chimes in with his response:
As we consider Epiphany, I find myself anchored by the story of the Magi in Matthew 2 and by what it reveals about the character of God.
The Magi set out looking for something extraordinary. They followed a star, expecting a king, power, and significance. Yet what they found was not what they anticipated. They arrived not at a palace, not among the religious elite, but at a modest home, where the presence of God was revealed in a child who could not yet speak.
What anchors me right now is this truth: God does not insist on being found in the places we expect. God is not drawn to power, spectacle, or certainty. God chooses vulnerability. God chooses the overlooked. God chooses to be revealed quietly.
That matters in seasons when life feels powerless, uncertain, or even disappointing. It reminds me that God is not absent simply because things are unresolved. Epiphany is not about God suddenly arriving. It is about our eyes seeing what has been there all along.
The Magi recognized God not because they were insiders, but because they were attentive. They were willing to trust that divine truth could appear outside familiar systems and symbols. Their worship was an act of recognition, not control. And when they left, Scripture tells us they returned home by another way.
That detail continues to ground me. Encountering God changes direction. It does not always give answers, but it reshapes how we walk forward. If we truly see God revealed among the vulnerable and the unexpected, we cannot keep traveling the same paths of indifference, certainty, or power.
In this season, I am anchored by a God who reveals himself gently, who meets us through the stranger, and who invites us to see differently. Epiphany reminds me that transformation does not begin with certainty, but with attention. God is already here. The invitation is to notice, to bow, and to allow that recognition to quietly change the way we go home.
It’s not too late!
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