A God Story by Bryan Ryder

Man, God sure does work in mysterious ways! Back in 1998, I was living a life of complete and utter sin, when the Lord stepped in and used an atheist to get my attention.

I had returned to my hometown for Christmas break during my last year of college. Since I was planning on moving out west after graduation, I wanted to get together with a childhood friend one last time. I called up my good buddy from high school and made plans to go to the lake, hang out, and have a few beers.

We got to talking, and he asked me if I believed in aliens. I didn’t believe in much at that time, but I sure as heck didn’t believe in aliens. So I asked him, “Do you believe that God made the aliens too?” He said to me, “God? You believe in God??” This comment led to a huge discussion about his newfound belief (or disbelief) in God. Well, I tried to defend this God (whom I really didn’t know) to the best of my ability. Needless to say, without the Spirit, I was not doing too well defending the Lord. Not only was I ill equipped, but my friend had some good arguments. The more I tried to make my point, the more hopeless I became. By the end of the night, I was really scared. Now the God who I thought was going to let me into Heaven (well hey, I hadn’t killed anyone), now might not even be real. I didn’t know what to do.

I went home and tried to fall asleep, but all I could do was cry. This very disturbing thought was in my head and I couldn’t seem to get it out. Thinking of me ceasing to exist after my death was too much to bear. I was completely hopeless.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to hunt down that old Bible that was somewhere in my closet. I found it and decided to start reading the book of Matthew. I kept reading until I got half way through Luke. After reading it, something strange happened--I had hope--not a lot, but some. This Jesus thing seemed believable. Yet, the most amazing thing that happened that night, was an unbelievably strong desire to find out if God was real. So I sought God, and He showed Himself to be true. Now 8 years later, I’m a Jesus freak. Man, God does work in mysterious ways!