The year was 1955, and the Billy Graham team had just completed an incredibly influential series of events in Scotland, which saw more than 2.5 million people hear the Gospel, and more than 50,000 give their lives to Christ. This was on the heels of preaching to more than 2 million the previous year in England.

After the close of the weeks-long effort, the team boarded a ship for the return voyage home to the United States. As they crossed the Atlantic, soloist George Beverly Shea (affectionately known as Bev) and his young son Ron, recognized another passenger on the ship—the president of a New York recording company.

Though the man wasn’t a Christian, he curiously asked what went on during their crusades. They had coffee and Bev joyfully shared how people received Christ each night. He finished his explanation with saying, “Oh the wonder of it all!”

The executive quickly took an envelope out of his pocket, wrote those words, and pushed it across the table. He said, “Bev, that sounds like a song: ‘The Wonder of It All.’”

That night, George Beverly Shea went back to his cabin, but sleep eluded him. At one point, Bev’s wife woke up and said, “What are you doing up so late?” Bev replied, “I’m just writing a little song.”

That “song” became the beautiful hymn, “The Wonder of It All.” In subsequent years, Bev recorded it several times on different albums. Bev’s son, Ron Shea, continues to work at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and is incredibly touched when people remember his dad’s music.

“He would do four to six church concerts a year with Kurt Kaiser and was always amazed when especially young people would approach him for the evening of music. He was very humble,” Ron Shea shared.

Oh, the wonder of it all, that God would use a humble servant like George Beverly Shea to passionately sing hymns that would bring people closer to Christ. In fact, “The Wonder of It All” really is a declaration of the very essence of Bev’s faith – a heart overwhelmed by the grace and majesty of God.

May the words of this song encourage you. May we stop in awe of God’s greatness and the wonder of ALL He does!

There’s the wonder of sunset at evening,
The wonder as sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.

O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.

There’s the wonder of springtime and harvest,
The sky, the stars, and the sun;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is a wonder that’s just begun.

O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me
Just to think that God loves me

Words and Music: George Beverly Shea (b. 1909)

© 1956 Word Music Inc.

All rights reserved.  Used by permission.