My story began long before I ever imagined writing a book.

Childhood abandonment created wounds I didn’t understand and an identity I didn’t know how to escape. For years, I tried to prove that I was strong enough, successful enough, or valuable enough to be loved.

Eventually, that brokenness helped lead me into drugs, crime, addiction, and federal prison.

But that isn’t where my story ends.

Jesus Christ completely changed the direction of my life. More importantly, He changed the way I saw God—and the way I saw myself.

I discovered a Father who wasn’t waiting to condemn me for everything I had done. He loved me in the middle of my mess and began teaching me who I had always been created to be.

Today, my wife Michelle and I have the privilege of serving people here in the United States and around the world. I’ve shared my testimony in churches, prisons, podcasts, conferences, and internationally, including ministry in Africa.

That journey also led to ABBA’S House 27:10 Foundation, through which we help care for vulnerable children and families internationally.

There’s something deeply personal about that for me.

The little boy who once wondered if he was wanted grew up determined to make sure other children know they are.

That’s also why I wrote God, Why?

This isn’t a book about how bad I was.

It’s a story about how good God is.

It’s about abandonment, addiction, prison, fatherhood, forgiveness, identity, redemption, and discovering that even when we don’t understand every chapter of our lives, God is still capable of redeeming what was meant to destroy us.

I don’t believe God caused the painful things that happened to me. But I have watched Him take things that should have destroyed my life and turn them into opportunities to bring hope to someone else.

If you’ve ever looked at your life and asked “God, why?”, I wrote this book for you.

Your worst chapter doesn’t have to be your final chapter.

—Arthur Smotherman

God, Why? is the true story of a little boy who learned to perform to be loved—and the man that wound eventually helped shape.

The journey led through addiction, crime, federal prison, brokenness, restoration, family, ministry, and ultimately to discovering the love of a Father who had never stopped pursuing him.

This book is for anyone who has ever looked at the painful parts of their life and asked, “God, why?”

Your story isn’t over.