​I recently underwent a medical procedure that required general anesthesia. It wasn’t a major event, but one that was painful enough to require general anesthesia. The orderly, nurse, or a combination of both, wheeled me into the operating room. The anesthesiologist said you will feel a little burning at your IV site and I did, and I mentioned it to her, and she said, “Bye, bye”. The next second, according to me, one-hour according to my wife, Barb, I awoke in the recovery room with someone asking, “How are you feeling?” and I had no recollection of what had happened in between those two phrases.
 
Thinking on that later, it occurred to me that maybe dying is the same way, except for the pain we generally associate with dying. The point being, one second you are there and the next second, or maybe ten thousand years later, you awake in God’s recovery room, having no clue as to what happened in between. Only in the earthly recovery room, what a misnomer that is, you don’t really recover, you just begin the perhaps long, or maybe short, road to recovery. In God’s recovery room though, if you were and are a Christian, you are instantly recovered for eternity and in the presence of Christ. Could be that’s what it is like, at least that’s the theory I’m going with.
 
On the other hand, if you weren’t and aren’t a Christian, God’s recovery room is going to be a place of non-recovery, for eternity.  You assign whatever label you want to it, but it isn’t going to be pleasant. 

Recently my daughter and her family were assigned to England (my son-in-law is in the Air Force). My wife and I were entrusted with the care of our grand dog, Lewis, a huge and beautiful Cane Corso who was too old to handle the stress of a long transatlantic flight. He was a very special dog and he and I had developed a strong bond over the years that I knew him. However, he was old and a few months after he came to us he must have had a stroke, because he was rapidly losing control of his legs and kept running into things with his left side. He was constantly falling and consistently fell down the back porch concrete steps on his way out, and sometimes, in the house. His condition was rapidly getting worse as the days wore on. It was obvious that he was confused and suffering and I was afraid he would injure himself or break a leg with his continuous falling and then suffer even more.
 
I had no choice but to take him to the Vet, which ultimately resulted in my decision to have her put him down. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I could not allow him to suffer since he had been such a good and faithful companion to my daughter and her family, and to me. It occurred to me at the time that perhaps there was a pet heaven or that God had plans for special pets in His infinite after world. I had no evidence of that, but hoped it was so. I didn’t want to think of Lewis not existing somewhere in some manner, not being happy or ever able to play again, and then it occurred to me that God must have feelings similar to mine at the loss and ultimate suffering of one of His special creations, one of us.
 
God loves us more perfectly than we love our special pets and as much as we want our pets to be happy when they are gone from us, God wants us to be happy after we are gone from the world. He wants us, like we want for our pets, to be eternally happy, blessed, and at peace, not suffering. Enjoying an eternal life with Him that is better than anything ever experienced during our short time on earth. All He asks for that to happen is that we believe in His son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. When we don’t we are lost, as Jesus is the only way to God the Father and eternal life. How sad we are when we lose a pet and can’t be sure that pet is going to have anything in the hereafter. How much more sad must God be when he offers us, his special creations, eternal life, but we reject it and He knows that we will not be happy and at peace eternally with Him, but rather will eternally suffer. We can end a pet’s suffering, but God won’t end our suffering if we reject Jesus Christ and Him who sent him.
 
None of this helps me answer my question about the existence of a pet heaven, but it does help me realize that if I can love and miss a dog so fervently, wanting only the best for that dog, me being an imperfect being, how much more can God, who loves perfectly, love and miss me if I reject the Savior and die, only to suffer eternally.

What is heaven going to be like? I’m not at all sure, but I had a thought the other day that it would be like the good old days…really good. I mean, those fond memories we all have and, of course, if we remembered them exactly as they happened we would realize they weren’t really all that good. Yet how about we live the good old days again, but this time they really are good. Like the vacation you took that you really enjoyed, but it ended, well it never ends in heaven. That special person you lost, but they are back now, forever. That sweet pet, back and perfect now. Heaven may just be full of repeat performances, replays of missed opportunities, forgotten sunsets, beautiful landscapes, wonderful feelings, or friends we lost too soon, but all back now and permanent, now and forever…perfect…forever. Just a random thought I had, but I kind of like it. 

There are many great people described and memorialized in the Bible, like Moses, King David, the apostle Paul, John the Baptist, and Peter, but they were actually no different than you and I. They were all human beings, weak in the faith at times, sinners all the time, and in need of God’s grace. What made them so great was the fact that all were blessed by God. God gave each of them special attention, talents and attributes which made them unique and special to the rest of the human world, but remember that without God’s extra measure of blessings they would have been no different than you and I. I say extra measure, because we are all blessed, but some have that extra measure according to God’s plan. You see God still makes some people special in accordance with his plan. There are great people of modern times or recent history and I’m sure you can think of a few. When you think of them or consider them, just remember that that they aren’t special on their own, but rather because God blessed them for a special purpose in his plan. He could do the same for anyone, even you or I. So let’s not get wrapped up in people’s accomplishments, past or present, they weren’t so great, but for God’s blessings.

   God not only knows where each sparrow falls or the condition of all his children everywhere, but He knows where every scrap piece of paper you have ever seen lying on the ground or blowing in the wind or every rock lying on the roadside is and has been, or will be. Even more so He knows where each molecule, atom or sub-atom that makes up that paper, that rock or any other thing, animate or inanimate, is, has been, came from, or will be, forever. He knows, because He created all, sustains all, and without Him nothing would exist.
   Some scientists spend all their time trying unsuccessfully to disprove God's existence, but do you really believe that all the wonders and intricacies of this world came about and continue by some chance? What a depressing thought. No hope or life after death just nothingness. I’m not going to accept that, because I know God exists and His son came to save all sinners from eternal damnation. How do I know? I have proof of God’s existence; the Bible, and here’s why. I’ve never found a mistake or contradiction in the Bible, anywhere. Have you? Not just something you don’t understand, that no one can explain, or that seems to defy the laws of nature (those are God’s laws by the way to change as He sees fit), but something that is clearly in error or that contradicts some other part of the Bible. I believe that God inspired the Bible and it is perfect, and by its perfection it proves itself, because no man or men could write such a complex treatise without error or contradiction. Not just a short paper or a long book, but an immense writing covering thousands of years without an error or contradiction. Only God could do that through inspired men.
   Don’t be deceived by your own perception of man’s great intellectual and physical abilities. God has more power than anyone can conceive and our abilities not only wane in his presence, but cease to even be relevant. There are things that exist in the universe that the greatest mind among us cannot even contemplate, let alone understand. And the most amazing thing is that an all-powerful God would even give a thought to insignificant humans like us. Yet He did and He also went to the trouble to design a plan that soothes his wrath toward us and includes us in eternal existence with Him. Even though we are so concerned with ourselves most of the time that we forget about Him; and not only refuse to give him the honor and praise that He deserves, but some of us try to disprove His existence. So how awesome is a God that saves us despite all of that?

People often do many things that they say bring them closer to God or make them feel closer to God, but in reality you can’t get closer to God. He is already with us. He gives life, sustains life, and takes life, at His pleasure. What people really mean is that they are doing things that make them increase their awareness of how close God is to them…all the time.