How I Know God Is Real: A Personal Journey of Faith

Are you struggling through life right now? Do you desperately want help, or do you want to continue slogging your way through life on your own? (How’s that working for you?) Are you ready to give up? I sincerely hope not because I have some great news for you: hope is available, help is sure, and happiness is just around the corner. Here’s how I know these facts are true.

How I know — intuitively

The reason I know help is available, and hope is possible, is that I was desperate too. As a teenager, I had run away from home seven times. During one of those times, I was taken in by a couple living in a small home high up on Green Mountain in Burnsville, North Carolina, near Asheville.

The couple had a huge fight one night, and I didn’t want to hear it, so I wandered around outside and sat down near some flowers. Sitting there, looking out into the valley below, I cried out in my mind, “What am I doing here? What am I going to do? How am I going to get out of this mess?”

Suddenly, I felt a presence, a calmness, a feeling of warm love surrounding me, and a thought came into my mind. “Don’t worry, I’m here, I will protect you and help you, it’s going to be okay.” Since nobody was around, I assume that thought must have come from God. It must have, because after that, I had the strength to leave that situation, and eventually made it home, back to my parents in Florida.

How I know — emotionally

Growing up, I was completely rebellious and an utter moral failure. When I think back to all the times I cried out for help through prayer and journaling during those lonely years, it’s absolutely amazing how God helped me get through every single one of those desperate situations. Sometimes, God answered my prayers by not giving me what I wanted (such as that serious relationship with Philip), and boy am I glad! Sometimes, God made me wait an extremely long time for something I wanted, and during that waiting period, I learned patience, gained wisdom, and, in some cases, ended up wanting something else entirely!

Do you feel guilty about things you’ve done that you know are wrong? That’s good! That’s God’s moral compass inside you guiding you toward Him. Don’t ignore it! It’s there for a reason! God wants you to take that guilt to His Son, Jesus, and let Him remove it. He is the ONLY ONE WHO CAN! I did this and have never regretted it.

My conversion experience (surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over my life) came slowly because I’m extremely stubborn, but it finally did. I gave up, I said to God one night on my knees at my bedside: “Lord, I see where my best thinking has gotten me to this point of despair. If there is a better way to live, please show me. I’m ready to listen.” The next day, the Lord guided me to people who had a program that helped me get out of the pit I was in, and I met others who guided me to attend a local church, where I learned more about God.

There is something in you and me that longs to worship. It’s because we were both made in the image of God, and worship is about relationship. We want to be reconciled to God because He is our true Father who wants us to come home eventually to be with Him forever in Heaven. We worship out of our gratitude to our heavenly Father, and worship brings joy. We serve our heavenly Father through His body, the Church, and we receive happiness by giving of our time, talents, and money. It’s out of our gratitude for God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness that we serve.

How I know — intellectually

The reason I know God is real, even though He is invisible, is that He gave me a mind and the ability to know Him through my reasoning abilities. From the Bible, I learned that God has not hidden Himself from us! We can see Him through His Son, Jesus, because Jesus Himself said that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father (John 14:8–10). He is not just a messenger telling us about God: He is God in human flesh.

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (John 1:13, NLT)

Jesus’ consistently good character, demonstrated by His life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection, demonstrates that He is who He claimed to be. His resurrection, attested by hundreds of eyewitnesses, is the ultimate confirmation that God is real and that He has acted in history to save us.

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to humanity, not merely an ancient book full of errors. It records His actions in history, His moral law, and His plan of salvation. The unity of Scripture is supernatural. It was written by over forty authors from different continents across fifteen hundred years, yet all relating one consistent story of redemption through Christ. The accounts of miracles in the Bible are to be expected, if, after all, our supernatural God is the author. Why shouldn’t He break into His creation at times for His own purposes?

You CAN trust the Bible because you can trust its author, God. You do NOT have to take a blind leap of faith to do so. Instead, marvel at the overwhelming evidence of its internal consistency, historical and archaeological reliability, fulfilled prophecy, and transforming power, all of which confirm its divine origin.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35, NIV)

He has also revealed Himself clearly through creation. It is the most basic proof of His existence.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature. So, they have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1:20, NLT)

Modern science points to the Big Bang as the beginning of the universe. This discovery aligns with the biblical truth that the universe had a definite beginning caused by an all-powerful, immaterial, personal Creator who exists outside of time, space, and matter (Genesis 1:1).

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. (Psalm 19:1, NLT)

The beauty and order of the universe, the vast information in DNA [1], the fine-tuning of the values of the constants of physics [2] (without which, life would be impossible), and the universe’s complexity indicate real, intelligent design, not mere appearances of design by accident.

I know from experience that God will reveal Himself personally to those who seek Him because that’s what He did for me. Even though I don’t know Him yet as much as I’d like to, I know He’s close by and wants to have a relationship with me. I feel closest to Him and hear His voice when I’m deep in prayer. In the Bible, God promised to make Himself known to people.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13, NIV)

Conclusion

We know that someday we’re all going to die, and we’re going to be dead a lot longer than we ever were alive. To me, believing in God makes good sense because it’s the only thing that gives my life meaning and purpose. The Bible makes it clear why I’m here and what I’m supposed to do with the time and talents God has given me.

God has not left us in the dark, to live alone in the universe He created for us. He exists, and He loves us! Through Scripture and through His Son Jesus, He has spoken, acted, and revealed Himself so that we would be able to know Him and be reconciled to Him.

I believe in Jesus Christ because I have seen enough evidence to believe that He alone is the risen Savior who offers forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent and trust in Him. In no other religion has the founder died for his followers or risen from the dead. The empty tomb is not just history; it is hope, help, and happiness.

References:

1. Meyer, Stephen C. Return of the God Hypothesis. New York: HarperOne, 2021, chapters 16–18.

2. Meyer, Stephen C. Return of the God Hypothesis. New York: HarperOne, 2021, chapters 11–13.

© 2026 Debra Hodges. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in the Genesis series.

© 2026 Debra Hodges. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in the Why We Believe series.