Q:
I was in a very serious auto accident a few months ago, and I'm just getting out of the hospital. My wife tells me I ought to be thankful to God for sparing me, but to be honest I'm angry at God for putting me through this. Can you understand why I feel this way?
A:
Yes, I can understand why you feel this way — but more importantly, God understands how you feel. And yet He doesn’t reject you or refuse to have anything further to do with you. Instead, He still loves you and wants to help you. The Bible’s words are true: “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).
Let me ask you a question: Are you glad to be alive? Are you thankful to be on the road to recovery, and grateful to be out of the hospital and back with your family? Of course you are; you know how easily things could have gone the other way. In other words, don’t focus any longer on the past; it’s over. Instead, focus on how far you’ve come, and focus on the future. And as you do, you’ll begin to be thankful for God’s mercy to you.
Over the years, I’ve found that tragedy usually does one of two things to people. For some, it makes them resentful and angry, and they decide to turn away from God. But others realize (perhaps for the first time) their need for God’s help and turn to Him in faith and trust.
Which will it be for you? Your wife is right; God has spared you and been with you in the midst of this crisis. Thank Him for it, and by faith commit your life — and your future — to Jesus Christ.