GH.... no I don't mind sharing at all. There is two ways to explain, blow by blow or an overview. If you don't mind I'll start with an overview. I've always remembered a particularly nasty teenage fight with my parents. I went for the kill shot and equated their IQ level in believing in a God they could never know existed. They both told me a personal experience that they believed was God with them. I told them they were F ing nuts and I'll never forget my Dad calmly looking at me and telling me that someday it would happen to me. Fast forward to 1995, Sept, Elk hunting on the Eastern slope of the Cascades. I was a mess. My divorce devastated me. I was addicted to Tylenol #4's and I had a serious drinking problem. We broke camp for the afternoon hunt but I circled back to camp, threw my bow in the back seat of my truck, grabbed my bottle of whiskey and went road hunting. I was really starting another pity party in my mind. Just as I was within 1/2 mile or so of the tallest peak in the area this feeling started building inside me. It became more and more intense causing me to cry and smile at the same time. Soon I couldn't drive and just stopped my truck and turned off the engine. I'm thinking stroke, heart attack, what is happening and that's when the communication happened. No words, just a knowing as I suddenly knew I was safe. The thought was in my head as a question, am I safe? And I was filled with a knowing, YES. I got out of my truck and fell to my knees and I was thinking, YOU? YES. And for the first time in six years, no, probably my entire life I knew peace. The feeling began to slowly subside and it triggered a certainity inside of me. I believe I even said out loud that I would forget, please never let me forget. Then I was filled with knowing something was going to happen so that I would never forget and it did (I'll share that part some other time as every time I relive this event in my life it affects me like it happened yesterday). Before I left in my truck I put 5 Tylenol 4's in my pocket (at the time I was thinking to help with withdrawals) and threw my pills and whiskey off the edge of a steep cliff. I went 15 years before I allowed myself to drink a beer. I threw the 5 pills in my pocket away because I experienced zero withdrawal symptoms. The Steve that left home for Elk camp that year has never been seen again.
Please feel free to ask me any question you want. I don't have a lot of answers but I will be honest. Of course the thing I get the most is that it was all a byproduct of drugs and alcohol. It wasn't and I have some convincing thoughts to support my position. But the truth is I can't use what I know to help others get past that kind of thinking because the experience, that feeling was so over the top, so beyond something that could be manufacturered... sorry, I can't explain it. So there you go, that's why I'm the wrong guy for anyone to try and convince there is no God.

This has been quite the entertaining thread, all 8 pages, thus far.
As a 67 yr old, "son of a preacher man", I have long encountered the above "to and fro", both as a participant and an observer, and find the conversation to most always be engaging, but rarely conclusive...... wait, wanna take that back...... NEVER conclusive.

If I thought for one instant, every word of "the bible"(Randy quotes KJV, a version my Father abandoned late 50's, early 60's, in favor of the RSV, and later, the NRSV) was actually "the Word of God", rather than the interpretation and subsequent browbeating of those who would not/could not comply, of the thousands of "editors" through the past two millennia, I might be a bit more inclined to embrace the entire book, though as Lewis Black (a Jew) so profoundly put it..."Hey Gentiles, 2/3 of "your Bible" is our book !! Afraid the thin little pamphlet that actually quotes "your guy" wouldn't sell ? Had to keep embellishing and distorting the original premise, with Paul and others wanting "writing credits", 200+ years after the guy died ?

Lewis don't mince words, or make you wonder what he said, ever..... that's why I like him.
Harsh, irate at imbecility, got no time to wrangle over "interpretation", just give me the facts without adding a slant.

And if that's not possible.....???
Long row to hoe, huh ?

Let me explain in as simple a way as I know. How can someone believe in something or someone they have never seen?A person must first have faith that God exists. Rom.12:3 says every man is dealt the measure of faith.
The story of “doubting” Thomas is a good example of this kind of faith.
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
‭‭John‬ ‭20:24-29‬ ‭KJV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/1/jhn.20.24-29.kjv

I can’t see the wind, but I KNOW it exists, because I can see the effects of it everywhere. I can’t see God, but I can feel and see His effects on my life and the lives of others. But it starts with having faith that God exists.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/1/rom.10.17.kjv

I’m not sure this helps, but there must be a way for you to exercise that “measure of faith” that God has given you. 🙏🏻

I see a big difference in "belief" and "faith". I understand faith and I admire folks that hold to theirs. I believe that the earth revolves around the sun. This is not readily apparent, but if you do a little studying and observation you can understand why it so. I have faith that the sun will appear to set in the evening and rise again in he morning, and I have absolutely no assurance that those things will happen. In other words, I have faith in my belief.
So again Randy, I don't see how you (YOU) could just decide that you are not going to believe in God anymore. If you want to convince me of something, convince me that that could be possible and we can go from there.