"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
In December 2008 our greyhound, Rosie, began to limp very badly and when this grew worse, we decided to take her to the vet to see if she'd broken a bone and have it set. She also seems to have a severe cough--if dogs can cough!
After a day of examinations, the vet called us in for a consultation and told us that x-rays showed bone cancer on Rosie's shoulder and the vet felt certain that this had also spread to her lungs, making it difficult for her to breath. Her prognosis was that Rosie would have 3 to 6 months to live and that there was nothing more she could do. We took her home and over the next two days Rosie's condition deteriorated rapidly and it seemed that she had hours, not months, left.
As I was sitting on the floor with Rosie, my overwhelming desire was that I just didn't want her to be in pain. Then I looked her in the face and the thought just came to me that, whatever happened, she was an idea of God and her identity as a loving, gentle creature would never change. Her grace and gentleness was eternal. She represented the idea of grace and gentleness to me at that moment.
Well, from that next morning Rosie's coughing and gasping from breath disappeared completely. Over the next two days the pain in her leg also disappeared. I thought, "wow, this is amazing! Did I just get a glimpse of seeing Rosie's true identity as God sees it?" Four months on, although she seems to have a slight limp, Rosie seems to be in no pain.
I don't know how long Rosie will be with us, but I know that my view of her as graceful and gentle is permanent. Also, I do hope that I can learn to see more as God sees things.