When the Scale Tips

Moments of Conversion

Conversion is often described as a single dramatic event—or dismissed as a slow, lifelong process. In truth, it is both.

In When the Scale Tips: Moments of Conversion, Geoffrey Schmitt explores the decisive moments when faith shifts from possibility to commitment—when resistance gives way, when truth becomes unavoidable, when mercy disarms the heart. Drawing on Scripture, history, pastoral experience, and prison ministry, this book examines the varied ways conversion begins and deepens.

Each chapter focuses on a distinct pattern: crisis and rock bottom, reasoned conviction, sudden encounter, forgiveness and mercy, faith witnessed in others, the search for meaning, inherited belief becoming personal, and finally a personal testimony that weaves these threads together. These moments differ widely, yet all reveal a common structure—weight accumulates, a tipping point arrives, and life is reoriented.

Written for seekers, long-time believers, and those uncertain where they stand, When the Scale Tips does not pressure readers toward a particular experience. Instead, it invites attentiveness: to notice what is already weighing on the heart, and to recognize the quiet or dramatic moment when faith becomes real.

This is a book for anyone who has wondered when belief begins—and for those who suspect the scale may already be moving.