Thankfulness through a Near-Death Experience
This amazing story from my friend Jackie demonstrates a thankful spirit even when life gets tough:
I was in a serious car accident the day of our 15th wedding anniversary. To make a long story short, someone carelessly bombed out of a driveway across two lanes of traffic, trying to make a left turn around a transport parked next to the curb, and "forgot" there might be someone on the other side of that truck that he couldn't see.
He hit me on the passenger side of my car - thankfully I was alone! - and shoved me across the yellow line into oncoming traffic...and my little Neon went into, and under, the front of another tractor trailer.
When my car stopped, which was a miracle in itself at 55 km/hr, what was left of the front end of my car was pushed up to my knees. The grill of the truck, which broke my windshield and bathed me in glass, was close enough for me to see my reflection.
Why am I telling you this, you may ask? Not to invite you to a funeral, or to be melodramatic...but because I felt compelled to share what God did for me in that moment that everyone dreads, when your life hangs in the balance (and I had time to see the transport coming and think, "Uh, oh, is it my time, God?").
We want everyone to know what God is capable of, in one of those rare times that you get to see it firsthand. By the grace of God, I walked away from my car (after they got me out) and rode with my husband to the hospital. That night, I came home to my own bed with no heart problems, no fractures and only a few, tiny glass cuts.
So this Thanksgiving is an opportunity for us to celebrate God's sovereignty, protection and grace once again. We know that He could have chosen for it to end differently, and that still wouldn't have changed the truth of His love or provision for us...
How can we be thankful, like Jackie, even when life goes sideways?
One way is to believe that God is God. He is sovereign (Psa. 93). That doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to us. However, we can trust that God’s ultimate purposes will prevail.
Not only is God sovereign, He is also good. He has our eternal best interests in mind and can transform the difficult into something good (Rom. 8:28). Even when we face life’s challenges, we can let them train us (Heb. 12:7-11) and refine our faith (1 Pet. 1:6-7; James 1:2-4).
We also know that God is gracious. We can be strong in His grace (2 Tim. 2:1). We can tap into God’s limitless resources to meet the difficulties that come our way.
Finally, we know that God is wise. In fact, His thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways (Isa. 55:8-9). We may not understand why something happens. Yet, we can trust that our all-wise God knows the “why” and can give us the wisdom we need to navigate forward (James 1:5).
Through her near-death experience, Jackie realized that God was still God and for that, she was incredibly thankful.
This Thanksgiving, let’s remember God and give thanks for who He is and the ways in which He has blessed us.