July 13, 2021 – Click here to listen
Yesterday’s post was very meaningful to me, but as is often the case, the ones I think are the best and should be printed and put away in our Bibles for future reference seem to receive the least response. It seems the ones that are less meaningful to me personally often get a rousing response.
I did receive one e-mail this morning however, that was very powerful, and I felt God wanted me to share it because it raised an excellent point that I will use from this point forward. It is as follows:
Good Evening Mr. Williamson . . . I have enjoyed and have been enlightened by your devotions for many years . . . I have shared many with friends but never replied to any . . . but this one caught my attention . . . On September 5, 2019 we lost our son and only child . . . he was very close to his God, his pastor, his wife and children and his parents . . . we were not only his parents but we were best friends . . . we were very close . . . our faith and Christian friends have kept us strong . . . but the choice we made was not to be angry with God and embrace bitterness . . . but rather to be grateful for the gift of our son that God so graciously blessed us with . . . so that brings me to your devotion today . . .
Why God allows bad things to happen . . . I do not like the word “allow”, and even though I am probably splitting hairs here, I prefer to believe that God does not intervene when bad things happen because He has given us free will . . . there are always consequences to our choices . . . I do not believe for a minute that our wonderful loving God wants anything bad to happen to us . . . but I do believe that He is right there to scoop us up when bad things do happen . . . we are blessed with an all-loving God . . . I know because He has held my hand and carried me through the most difficult time of my life . . . I will treasure that, I will share that, and I will cling to that until I see my son again. Thank you for your faithfulness!
Hmmm . . . I could not agree more. I’ve experienced much tragedy in my life and though God did not intervene He drew close to me and tenderly loved me through it too. It hurt but made me stronger and eventually put me in a position whereby I could help others from time to time by being there for them.
Yesterday my wife and I made the very difficult decision to put our beloved little dog Coopie to sleep. It literally breaks our hearts to do so, but he has reached a point where he has no quality to his life, and he suffers. The vet cannot perform it until Friday, and it is very difficult to have him sitting in one of his favorite places (my lap) knowing that in just a few days he will be gone.
I realize he is not human, but he is family to us, and we love him like a son. I have had to put down two other dogs in my life, Sandy and Bear, and the pain now is just as bad as it was then. It just does not get easier. I have asked God to draw near us and I have faith He will. As this kind lady has said, Jesus loves us with a love we cannot comprehend, and it is the difficult times when we can see it the most, provided we draw close to Him.
So many of my friends and acquaintances run to booze, drugs, bitterness and hate and other destructive things when confronted with the bad things that on occasion happen in our lives. One cannot find solace in such things. God stands at the door and knocks – all we need to do is answer the door and let Him in to our hearts.
The Bible says nothing specific about our pets and heaven; it neither confirms or denies it. Most take that to mean they will not be in heaven, but the Bible doesn’t say that. Some think that heaven wouldn’t be heaven without them being there by our side. Indeed, the Bible does confirm that there are animals in Heaven. Isaiah 11:6 describes several types (predator and prey) living in peace with one another. If God created animals for the Garden of Eden to give us a picture of His ideal place, He will surely include them in Heaven, God’s perfect new Eden! In Revelation 19:11, Jesus is said to be riding a white horse. So, if a horse is in Heaven – why not my beloved dogs Coopie, Sandy, and Bear?
Maybe God will allow us that indulgence or maybe that is not in His plans. I hope little Coopie ends up there, but I trust in God that heaven will be so wonderful we will be fine either way. And as I said yesterday death and sin will end forever – I look forward to that day so-o-o-o much!
Isaiah 11:7
“The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea”