Have you been heartbroken by the death of your dog?
This can be harrowing, especially if it was a favorite dog.
Such episodes can make you to question God’s love for not saving your dog.
Doesn’t God care for your dog or does He take pleasure in punishing you?
Here are some biblical reasons why God can take away your dog—some of which may surprise you.
God Doesn’t Always Answer Yes to Prayers
If your dog was ailing and you prayed, God may not save your dog’s life.
That’s because He doesn’t always answer “Yes” to our prayers.
Though He promises to always answer prayers, it’s not always in the way we expect.
Sometimes He says “Yes,” other times he says ‘Wait” and yet in others, he says “No.”
The reason is that God knows better what our best interests are since he can see the future.
In such cases, we should simply put our trust in him.
Death is the Common Fate of all Living Things
God takes away your dog for the same reason that He takes away all other life.
Due to Adam’s sin, death came to the whole world.
This has affected both humans and animals and all other living things.
Even other people who are precious to you like your parents, family members, and friends will also die.
So will millions of other dogs apart from yours.
If they will, why not your dog?
Despite its tragic nature, death can serve a positive role.
It’s God’s constant reminder of the reality of sin and its deadly effects.
Related: Is it a Sin to Kill a Dog?
To Prevent our Idolization of Dogs
Too much of a good thing can be bad for you.
Your fondness for your dog may develop into an unhealthy obsession and become a form of idolatry.
For example, some people end up substituting dogs for people so that they care more for the dog than for people.
In his compassion, God can take away your dog as the only way to restore your relationship with people or with God.
The Bible stresses that physical things offer only fleeting pleasures compared to spiritual things that have lasting value.
Related:
It is a Demonstration of God’s Love
As hard as it may seem, God uses suffering including the loss of our pet dogs to prove that He is our parent or father.
Hebrews 12:7 says that by making us go through hardship, God is actually building us. This proves that we are his children.
A true parent wants the best for his children, so he will teach them hard lessons.
This is similar to lions or cheetahs teaching their young ones to hunt which can be tough.
Also, it’s similar to eagles teaching their young ones to fly, which isn’t always fun.
Such training helps one to develop resilience which is needed to live successfully in a life that will be filled with many other losses apart from losing your dog.
It may look harsh but instead of being upset, we rejoice as God is treating us like his own creatures.
Related:
Why did God Make Dogs’ Lives So Short?
Some Things Remain Mysterious
God is not obliged to give us explanations for everything He does at the time we want.
So, some things will remain a mystery at least for some time.
We see this in the plight of Jacob, one of the great patriarchs of Israel.
Jacob’s favorite son Joseph went missing, and he was made to believe that he was eaten by wild animals.
In reality, his jealous brothers kidnapped him and sold him as a slave to foreigners.
Despite his anguished cries for an answer from God for the loss, the grieving Jacob got none for years until he was advanced in age.
Finally, God answered him when a serious famine hit the land, and Joseph as a prominent political leader in Egypt helped to save many starving people including Jacob’s family from death.
Joseph’s disappearance turned out to be for the good as God was preparing him for a future role to save many people.
In the same way, we can’t always get instant answers for tragedies that strike us including the loss of our pet dogs.
Some questions will get answered in the distant future during our lifetime.
Others will never be answered in our lifetime and have to wait for the moment when we meet God in heaven.
It is a Test from God
Sometimes God wants to test us on whether we love our dogs more than him.
For example, Job, a very faithful servant of God, underwent severe testing after Satan questioned his faith and challenged God to take away Job’s most treasured things. These included his children, his property, his high social status, and even his own health.
Satan argued that Job was only faithful because of the good things God had given him.
He predicted that he would curse God if those things were taken away.
God gave Satan permission to strike Job and take away his things on 3 different occasions.
But each time Job remained steadfast in his faith.
In the end, he was rewarded by God by having all his losses restored multiple times.
In the same way, losing our dogs could be Satan’s attack to test us and prove to God whether we are not faithful.
It’s Not the End of Things
God knows that the death of your dog is not the end of the story because he can see the bigger picture.
This includes His promise of eternal life in which we shall be reunited with our dogs.
The short time you enjoy with your dog in this life pales into insignificance compared to the glorious future that awaits us.
We will end up several times happier than we were.
Related: Bible Verses about Dogs in Heaven
Closing Thoughts
Your dog dying on you can be traumatic but hidden behind this tragedy is God’s unwavering love.
Just as Jesus “was made perfect through suffering” and him calling us to bear the cross as he did, adversity will come to us when we lose our dogs.
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