Why there are animals in my book

All of nature cries out for us to be closer to God – but we must allow it. When there’s an amazing sunset, we can miss it if we don’t pay attention, or we can give it quick glance – or we can fully appreciate it and say “Thank You.”

However, I believe that animals are an extra special gift to us from God, because God intends for animals to help us. We know this, because God says so in the Bible’s book of Job, chapter 12, verse 7:

“Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you.”

Some people feel that animals were our gift when we needed them for chores. Most of us don’t plow gardens using animals these days, but we still need their help – perhaps even more than ever now, since many of us aren’t outdoors enjoying that sunset! We need animals, both domestic and wild ones, to give us relief from stress and sadness and to provide joy and actual healing. There are medical studies reporting that people who live with animals are healthier in various ways, such as lower blood pressure.

When God tells us to “ask the beasts” so they can teach us, He doesn’t want us to learn plowing lessons from them. He wants us to know Him by learning from animals about trusting Him to meet our needs. When we get really good at this, the animals will speak to us – and so will God. Maybe God will even use an animal to speak to us. Maybe it’ll be a deer. Maybe it’ll be a sparrow. Maybe it’ll be a barn cat.