I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon in person.

I’ve heard that photos just don’t do it justice. And I believe that.  For one thing, photos are two-dimensional. The Grand Canyon is three-dimensional. That alone makes a world of difference.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. See full disclosure here.

Have you ever been on one of those rides where you’re surrounded by giant movie screens, sitting in a chair lift, and it feels as if you are flying? Everything is moving around you. It’s an experience you’ll never forget. 

You feel like you’re really there.

And the reason is simple: it’s all around you. Everywhere you look, you’re immersed in the scene.

And so it is with a visit to Grand Canyon.

You have to be there to begin to grasp its magnitude. And if we’re honest, you can’t fully grasp it at all. Not really. We’re simply too small in comparison.

But standing there, you do gain an inkling of something deeper—how vast God is and how small you are. At least, that was my experience.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

A few years ago, my husband and I traveled to the Grand Canyon with his brother and sister-in-law. We don’t get to see them often—us in Wisconsin and them in Texas—so sharing the trip added a richness I hadn’t anticipated.

We rode a train from Williams, Arizona, to the canyon’s rim. The first glimpse, through the train window, looked just like the photos—far away, hazy, two-dimensional.

But that all changed when we stepped up to the first overlook on the South Rim.

Breathtaking.
Mind-boggling.
Life-changing.

I gripped the railing and slowly scanned the horizon before me. Every direction revealed something new. Every rock formation told a different story. Every glimpse of the Colorado River felt like a surprise.

All around us were people from all over the world. Many languages were being spoken. But something remarkable happened at that overlook point.

Silence.

People became still. (Well… still, and taking about a thousand photos.)

It didn’t matter where you were from or what language you spoke. The response was the same—a quiet, reverent stillness.

It immediately brought Psalm 46:10 to mind: “Be still, and know that I am God.” (NIV)

There we stood—small people before a vast canyon—being still, in awe, trying to comprehend something far bigger than ourselves. And a few of us were being still while quietly worshiping our Creator.

My greatest takeaway from the Grand Canyon was this: God is incredibly big, and I am incredibly small… and yet He cares deeply about me. He even knows the number of hairs on my head—hairs that were wildly blowing in the canyon wind.

Psalm 8 says it best: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (NIV)

Moments like this—standing small before a very big God—are woven throughout my life story. I share more reflections like these in my book From Worry to Wonder: Seeing God’s Goodness in Life’s Rearview Mirror, where I write about learning to recognize God’s goodness in both the ordinary and the overwhelming.

Have you ever had an experience that made you feel the bigness of God and the smallness of yourself by comparison? I’d love for you to share it in the comments below.

First published: June 2014

Updated: January 2026