I think it’s possible to take for granted that if God showed up powerfully, we would immediately recognize it and know how to respond, because it would be obvious.

I wouldn't be so sure. When God obviously showed up in a cloud in Ex. 20, out of a few million Israelites, only Moses went into the cloud to meet with God. When Jesus was ministering with obvious signs and wonders, the religious people not only rejected Him, they persecuted Him! When the Holy Spirit obviously came at Pentecost in Acts 2, some people mocked it as public drunkenness.

The truth is, religious people have always had a mixed response to the obvious Presence and power of God.

Unless you were born-again as a fully mature disciple, chances are that you've also missed out on a few "God-moments" as well because you were confused, scared, or unaware. I know that this has happened to me. I don't want it to happen again.

The danger of taking for granted that you would certainly recognize God's Presence is that if you don't recognize something, you assume that it didn't happen or that it's a counterfeit - not that you missed it.

The good news is that if confusion, fear and lack of awareness can cause you to miss God's Presence, then clarity, hunger and awareness can cultivate your discernment in those moments. But this all starts when we stop taking for granted that we would see Him and start to cultivate our awareness of Him.