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Animals as Seen Through God's Eyes

A Walk Through the Bible in Search of the Truth about Animals

AuthorHouse LLC

My Journey

It is hard to think of where to begin, but I think for the purpose of what I want to share I need to start back in 1999. It is hard to figure out a beginning point. One event was preceded by a series of previous events that had an impact on the road I am on now. I have to start somewhere, so I am going to plunge in and start. I had a dream. It was almost as if I wasn't dreaming. I remember it took place at night. I dreamed I had walked outside near the edge of my woods. In the woods I saw all kinds of animals. Wild animals, domesticated animals—you name it, it was out there. I then remember a bear walking upright like a person. He was dressed in clothes and carrying a briefcase. (I know this sounds bizarre, but you know how dreams can be!) He came to the edge of the woods and talked with me. I can't remember all that he said. I do remember going back inside and somehow realizing that this was very important. I needed to remember it. It had some significant meaning.

In December of that year, one of my rabbits died suddenly. I had found the rabbits as orphaned babies. I took them in and raised them. Losing Thumper was very hard. It was devastating. A month later, for some odd reason I decided to write a story. I was not a writer, but I had a strong compulsion to write, so I did. The dream I had about the animals in the woods came back to me. When I wrote the story "Thumper's Gift," the dream I had six months earlier became intertwined with the story. It seemed the words came without any control of my own. Writing the story seemed to have a healing quality for me in dealing with my grief over Thumper's death. I shared it with a few people, but beyond that, I did nothing else with it. You see, I still had this nagging question within me. Was there any truth to this? Did animals go to Heaven? Would I ever see my dear friends again? I wanted to know the truth, yet there was a part of me that was afraid to find out.

Now might be a good time to explain a little about where I was on my spiritual path. I have always believed in God, but I really had no knowledge of Him. My family of origin were not church people. We didn't even really talk about God in my family. My maternal grandmother was a strong Christian lady. I credit her for stirring that fire in me about God. She gave me a Bible when I graduated from high school, and I have kept it with me all these years. But the truth be known, I had never read the Bible except for Psalm 23, which I read at the funeral when one of my pets died. I think I was always somehow intimidated by the Bible. I thought I would not understand it, as if you had to go to seminary before you could truly understand what is written in the Bible. I was very ignorant. I didn't know any of the stories in the Bible. I didn't know who the characters were in the Bible. In fact, to be quite honest, I didn't really know what the Bible was all about. Sad, huh? So you can maybe understand why I was a little afraid to know the truth about animals going to heaven. I wasn't sure about God's view on the matter. Oh sure, I know I have the right to believe whatever I want to believe. But just because I choose to believe something doesn't make it the truth. I have always wanted to know the truth about things. Make-believe has never been my strong suit.

I met a woman at work. I remember her asking me a question that really threw me for a loop. She asked, "Are you a Christian?" I wasn't really sure how to respond. I mean, sure, I believed in God. I believed in Jesus, although I don't think at that time I really knew who He was. I had gone to church and finally had been baptized when I joined a church in the city. I really hadn't gone to church much since I moved to the country. The most troubling thing about what she asked was that I didn't really know what being a Christian meant. We ended up having many long talks. I found out that she had actually read the entire Bible! I mean, sure, some people have probably read parts of the Bible, but I couldn't fathom anyone actually reading the entire Bible cover to cover. Was that even possible? She told me it was important to read the Bible for yourself. "Don't just let people tell you what is in it," she told me. "They can lead you astray. You need to be familiar with it yourself." This intrigued me.

The word of God was opened up to me. I prayed for understanding, and I started reading the Bible. Once I started reading, it was hard for me to put the book down. I was like a sponge soaking up every drop. Many things started to happen then. My relationship with God started to grow. Jesus became real to me—who He really is. I started having a true relationship with Him, which was amazing. The way I prayed and who I was as a person shifted and changed, and I didn't even realize it was taking place. This was definitely having a positive impact. I finally found a small country church to attend. God was working and moving in my life.

In July of 2000, my cocker spaniel, Ashley, got sick and died. She was thirteen. I tried to seek comfort from God, but the same old question continued to surface. Was there a place in heaven for animals? I was growing in my faith in God. He answered a prayer of mine the following year when He brought me another dog. Noah was my miracle from God. God showed Himself to me when He answered that prayer of mine. I had no more doubts about His existence (I have written a story about that miracle that you will read later on). The question now remained: Would I trust Him for His answer to my question about animals going to heaven? Could I handle the truth? I needed to know, but if the answer was no, could I worship a God who doesn't care for the animals? Would I want to be in a heaven where my best friends were not there? I asked the question, but I really didn't look for the answer. Well, at least not then.

Then in August of 2001 on a Sunday morning I woke up early and was flipping through the channels on the TV. I didn't have cable or a satellite dish, so it didn't take long to flip through all of them. Anyway, I came to a program that apparently was a prerecorded program. It was a call-in program where you could ask the pastor any question about the Bible and he would do his best to answer. A lady called in and asked about whether there would be animals in heaven. Of course, this caught my attention immediately. What would his answer be? He didn't even seem to hesitate on the answer but said yes. He referred to Isaiah 11 and the peaceable kingdom. Of course I went to my Bible, the one my grandmother had given me so many years ago, to look up Isaiah 11. My Bible was definitely being used now. I hope my grandmother was happy. She went to heaven while I was still in college. I read chapter 11 of Isaiah. Sure enough, it was there. All these animals would get along. They wouldn't hurt each other. They wouldn't eat each other. They would lie down together and play together. Then I remembered my dream and my story about Thumper. Was there something to my dream? Had God been trying to speak to me back then? It sure got me thinking. Okay, now I had some proof that God loves animals and that there are animals in heaven. The question I still had was whether my animals be in heaven, my best friends. I asked Him to please let me know. No immediate answers came. Time went on.

Spring of 2002 came. I planned to go to a social work conference. There was a cheap conference in Kansas City for social work month. It was close to home, inexpensive contact hours, and free food; what could be better? I wasn't even sure what it was going to be about. I remember praying on my way to the conference, "Lord, let me get something meaningful out of this conference." I know that may sound silly, but I also didn't want to fall asleep during the conference if it was really boring. I had no idea what God had in store for me. The workshop was titled "Welcome to the Twilight Zone." It was on near-death experiences. The lady speaking was a social worker originally from Overland Park, Kansas, (a local) and had had her own near-death experience. She now worked with other people who had had near-death experiences. I want to clarify that she was talking about people who have died, flat-lined, and then have come back to life. This conference was life changing for me. It was as if God was answering so many of my questions so fast. I was overwhelmed. I can't even put it into words. All I can say is that the woman shared about people who have had near-death experiences and encountered their pets in heaven. Was this for real? It inspired me to start reading all I could on the subject.

During this same month, a friend of mine, Marsha, lost her brother. She and her brother loved animals. I remember having a long talk with Marsha. We were talking of death, heaven, and so on. I know it sounds morbid, but when you have lost someone dear to you, you do talk about such things; that becomes really important. I remember her asking me if I really thought that animals go to heaven. She shared with me that she had attended a church service where the minister preached about animals not having souls and said that they would not go to heaven. The first thought I had was to wonder why anyone would see a need to preach on such a thing, but then I heard the distress in her voice. She said she knew that her brother would not be happy in heaven if his furry friends were not up there with him. Automatically, the social work side of me kicked in. I had to help her.

I decided I would research the fate of animals according to God for myself to see what I could find out. Now, you may be thinking that I should have done this a long time ago, and you are right. It seems like I don't necessarily do things for my own needs, but if someone else is in need, I jump to attention. Go figure. By this time I had actually read through the Bible cover to cover. It took me a couple of years, but I actually did it. There is so much to be absorbed. I think I can reread it throughout my lifetime and continue to learn new things from it. It truly is alive.

That was my mission during the summer months when I was off from work. I was going to research what the Bible truly says about animals and heaven. I got an exhaustive concordance of the Bible so I could look up all the scriptures on the subject. Every appropriate scripture I could find, I would write down on index cards (at the time I had no computer). When I did have access to a computer, I searched the Internet to see what I could find on Christianity and animals in heaven. I printed off the articles and read through each one, highlighting important points. I went to bookstores to see what books I could find on the subject, but there weren't many. I found one book, which I ordered through the Internet. The book Will I See Fido in Heaven? Scriptures Revealing God's Eternal Plan for His Lesser Creatures by Mary Buddemeyer-Porter, published by Eden Publications, was close to what I was looking for. She had numerous scriptures that revealed God's plan. After reading the book, looking up every scripture that was noted, and continuing to search out all I could on this subject, it started becoming clear to me that yes, animals do have souls and yes, they will be in heaven. I was becoming more excited by every scripture I found. I also wanted to be sure to read everything around each scripture passage. I didn't want to take anything out of context or just try to prove my point. I was on the search for the truth.

Then one day when I was working on this project, God seemed to speak to me, and I realized He was answering the question I had asked Him a long time ago. The truth had been there all along in His Word. I just needed to look. His answer was more abundant than I ever had dreamed. I found that there is quite a lot about animals in the Bible, much more than just about their eternal fate. I have to say that through working on this project, my love for God has grown so deeply. He made everything—every creature. He knows them intimately and loves them dearly. He truly is a God to be worshipped and praised. And above all, I have found my very best friend!

Now What?

When God tells you to do something, it is important that you do it. I happen to procrastinate. That is not a good thing. I had done all of this research. I had read all of the books I could find on the subject. I had searched the Bible for scriptures pertaining to this subject. I had stacks of index cards with scriptures on them: proof that animals have souls, whether there are animals in heaven, God's love for animals, how we are to treat animals, God's relationship with animals, and so on. I felt pretty confident with all the information I had found and that God was leading me down this path. I really believed that God wanted me to do something with all of this information. My thought was that I needed to write a book. That made sense to me. There are very few books on this subject. I know there are other people like me who are concerned about what happens to their furry or feathery friends when they die. This is something I can do for God and for others who may be hurting and need some answers. Well, that was my plan.

Work started back up with the new school year. Being a school social worker, I keep rather busy during the school year. I have a menagerie of animals at home that requires a lot of my time to care for. I think sometimes I was trying to be too much like Noah and the ark (I'm exaggerating slightly). Anyway, there is a list of chores that have to be done every morning and evening that take up a good chunk of my time. Time goes quickly. Bottom line: I didn't do anything with all of the information I had found. The index cards stayed in their stack. My notes stayed in my notebook. All the articles that I read and highlighted stayed in a notebook with dust collecting on all of them. This wasn't God's plan. I had good intentions, but I didn't follow through. Oh, sure, when someone would talk with me about the subject I would freely share about what I had learned. I would search through my cards and show them scriptures that supported my findings, but then I would put them back away and dust would start collecting on them all over again. I am writing all this down now, and I realize how I must have disappointed God. I sure didn't mean to do that. I wouldn't want to do anything to disappoint God, but the fact remains I think I did.

Well, when God speaks to you about doing something, He doesn't give up. He will try other ways to get your attention. He did that with me in February of 2003. One of the teenage girls at church had asked me to share some of the scriptures I had found regarding animals going to heaven. Of course I was willing to share my index cards with scriptures written on each that I have neatly arranged by topic. I said I would bring them to church on Sunday and we could talk about it after church.

I had been attending Sunday school on a fairly regular basis. We were going through the Bible book by book. We all had a lesson guide to help us through. Our Sunday school class was pretty relaxed. We usually got into some interesting discussions. However, lately there had been a new family attending that had changed the dynamics of things. The husband and wife had been attending our Sunday school class. The man was apparently quite a scholar on the Bible. He apparently had gone to seminary, although he was not a pastor. Being very knowledgeable about the Bible, he tended to monopolize our class discussions. On the Sunday that I was supposed to share my index cards with Kate, the teenage girl, our Sunday school lesson was on the book of Job. Now, before I go any further, you have to remember I brought my little box of all my index cards, which I carried neatly in a little bag sitting right beside me on the pew. Okay, now we can continue.

We were studying the book of Job. This man spoke up in an authoritative manner. "You know why God gave Job double the amount of animals and not as many children? Because children are eternal and animals are not!" he answered his own question without allowing anyone else to reply. He had to repeat this point over and over, as if he loved the sound of his voice and his ability to share his wealth of knowledge to all that could hear. My heart was racing. Why couldn't I speak up? I usually was very comfortable speaking up with my new church family. For some reason I couldn't or wouldn't with this man. I had all my index cards with all the supporting scriptures right beside me. I was infuriated with myself. The truth of the matter was I was intimidated by this man who apparently was so educated on the matter. Who was I to speak up and contradict what this man said? Had I gone to seminary school? Was I well educated on the Bible? Oh sure, I had read the Bible (which took me a couple of years to accomplish) and I had researched this topic, and yes, I did think God had spoken to me on the matter (which only made me sound insane), but the fact was I was just a nobody. I was quiet. I didn't stand up for what I believe in, for what God had been revealing to me. This terrible feeling stirred in my gut and wouldn't leave. I couldn't shake it. Needless to say, I didn't stay after church to share my index cards with all the scriptures written on them with Kate. I went home.

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Excerpted from Animals as Seen Through God's Eyes by Dwila R. Funk. Copyright © 2014 Dwila R. Funk. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse LLC.
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