The Song That Grew from a Father's Healing

Bart Millard grew up afraid of his own father. Arthur Millard was violent and unpredictable, and Bart's childhood was shaped more by fear than by love. Home was not a safe place.

Then Arthur was diagnosed with cancer. And somewhere in that valley, something broke open inside him. He surrendered his life to Christ, and the transformation was so complete that people who knew him could scarcely believe it. The man who had ruled his house with rage began to speak with gentleness. The hands that had caused his son to flinch learned how to embrace.

Arthur died a changed man. And his son, still marveling at what he had witnessed, sat down and wrote I Can Only Imagine — a song about what it might be like to stand before Jesus. It became one of the most beloved songs in modern Christian music, heard by millions around the world.

But that song wasn't born from a mountaintop experience. It was born from a boy watching El Shaddai do what everyone believed was impossible — heal a violent man from the inside out.

Some of us carry wounds from the very people who were supposed to protect us. We wonder if healing can really reach that deep, change that much. The story behind I Can Only Imagine says it can. Jehovah Rapha, the God Who Heals, doesn't patch over damage. He remakes the whole heart.