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.
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.
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