Let me tell you how I fell in love.
The first week of Kindergarten in a tiny private school surrounded by just five classmates, I sat on the floor enamored by my teacher's description of creation found in Genesis, chapter one. She excitedly explained to us that the very God who created the world in which we live wanted to know each one of us like a friend. That He loved us so much He made the world for us to enjoy, and then sent His only Son to make a way for us to come back to Him after Adam and Eve sinned.
Then she asked. And I raised my hand. I wanted. No. I needed this God of hers to be my friend, to protect and guide me through a life I had already come to realize was difficult. At the moment I invited Jesus Christ to dwell in my heart, He wrapped my heart in His hand and never let go. Through fears and heartaches too big for a five year old to understand, He lovingly guided me as a most gentle and loving Father would his own child.
It was never too late to talk to Him. He was never too busy to hear me. He holds me in my darkest moments with an unconditional, perfect love that only flows forth from the hand of God. A love like I had never known before or since. A love that has not prevented tragedy from entering my life, but shaped me through it.
Did I accept what I was told with the faith of a child? Yes. Is my faith the same after twenty nine years? No. It is ever so much deeper, my love for God so much stronger. I could tell stories by the dozens of God's faithfulness. In the same way you might trust that the wind blows even though you can't see it or know that germs exist because illness does, I know my God by the way His hand moves in my life and the lives of those around me. He never stops astounding me.
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:18
I no longer rely solely on personal experience of God's hand moving in my own life to prove my faith is true, but now understand so much more about the basis for my faith. I know why I believe what I believe, and have studied in detail the practical aspects of Christianity and why we can trust its doctrines to be true. I love the works of C. S. Lewis and Lee Strobel, who set out in disgust to disprove Christianity only to became convinced of the accuracy of the Bible.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." ~ C.S. Lewis
I would encourage you to do your own research, whether to explore whether you believe it is true, or to reinforce your faith and be able to give an answer to those who ask you where your hope comes from.
