Yesterday one of my friends posted this video on facebook, which led to about an hour of instant replay. 

And it’s not just because it has a catchy beat. The words, “How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er” touched me deeply. As I sang, memories of all the times Jesus has shown up—again, and again, and again—came washing over me. When I’ve had nowhere else to turn, He was there. When everyone else turned away, He was there. When I was too tired to lift my face, He lifted it for me. When I felt like my heart would break, He comforted me with words of love. Like a gentle father enveloping a weak and timid child. God has proven His love and faithfulness to me o’er and o’er.

One day I was speaking with an atheist. This was one of those intellectual conversations–you know, “According to the first law of thermodynamics…therefore there must be a God.”

He wasn’t buying it.

Although, I suspect he was. Each one of us knows deep in our hearts there is a God. And I believe each one of us catch glimpses of His all-consuming love throughout the day, but we rationalize those moments and faint whispers away.

That’s easy to do, even for believers. We’ll hear a word from God. Maybe a verse will speak to us, asking us to do something we’d rather not do. And in that moment, we surrender completely. But then the next day rolls around, and the words, and our passion, fades. How do you know that verse was from God? (Besides the fact that it’s in the Bible?) Maybe you’re making too much of it. You do have a tendency to make every verse your own. (News flash–the Bible is God’s Word to you. Own it.)

Or, we’ll ask for another confirmation, then another, then another. And over time, that tiny flame begins to fade. Life seeps in, and we tell ourselves it was never really a call.

Given enough time and enough human rationalization, even the miraculous can be explained away. Maybe it wasn’t a worldwide flood. Maybe Jonah’s life was an allegory. Maybe that check that came in the mail at just the right time was a coincidence.

Until we’re leveled–totally broken, without a glimmer of hope, and God shows up. Then there’s no doubt. No explanations suffice, and that memory of God reaching down His hand and plunging us out of whatever mess we were in resonates so deeply, it cements itself into our hearts.

After a long, and fruitless conversation with my atheist friend, he asked me what I would do if someone proved the Bible wrong. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of how many years I had spent studying cannonization, biblical archeology and books upon books discussing the credibility and authority of the Bible. But despite all the evidence I’d seen in favor of the Bible’s authority, I contemplated his question honestly.

After all the times God surrounded me, held me, spoke to me, saved me, healed me–showed Himself to me in both the big and the mundane–could anything convince me of His non-existence?

No. Once you’ve tasted the water, there is no way someone can convince you it is not real.

What about you? Pause for a moment and think…contemplate all the times and ways God has shown up in your life. Then listen to the song again. Do you find yourself singing, “Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.”?

Not there yet? Curious? Maybe even a tad thirsty? Wanna see if God really is who He says He is and really does what He says He does? Ask Him to show you, for all who ask receive, all who seek find and to him who knocks the door will be opened.

Jeremiah 29:12-13 “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”

If you want to know God–truly know Him, and experience His freeing, cleansing love first hand, tell Him. If you seek, you will find. He’s already there, loving you, drawing you. Waiting for you to life up your face.

And now I’ going to play that song again. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er.

Jesus–life, peace, joy…rest.