Our Namesake Verse

Thank you for joining us! We are excited to start our first blog! We will share what God says about His creation in the Bible each month and add topics to post more frequently as we go. Please share your ideas with us as we journey through discussing the Goodness of God and all that He is doing at Risen Paws.

God is love, which means that His love is extended towards His creation. This is one of our favorite aspects of the Goodness of God. Our namesake verse is Job 12:10, "In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." A few other aspects include God's intimacy towards His creation, the difference between man and creation and how suffering leads to a greater understanding of the Goodness of God.

Job 12:10 shows the intimacy God shares with His creation as He holds them in His hand. Hands can be such an intimate gesture. It makes me think of holding hands, gently touching one's face, playing a significant part of an embrace. It can signify love, support, friendship, and even protection. It can be a way to express awe and wonder. It makes me think about holding a puppy in my hand. I am cupping it to keep it safe, cherish it, and spend time with it. I am in awe of the cuteness. I immediately fall in love with it. This feeling must be vastly multiplied for mom's and dad's as they hold their new baby in their hands, which is a difference that should be discussed between man and creation.

Job 12:10 shows the difference between mankind and God's creation. Job says that God holds the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. He did not say that God holds the breath of animals. It's not to say that he doesn't, but maybe this was to suggest that there is a difference between humankind and creation. Genesis 1:26 says,

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth."

This distinction does not mean that creation matters less to God. Genesis 1:26 says, "let them have dominion over...". Dominion means to rule, reign, have control over. This is a responsibility to care for. Imagine the Kings and Queens of England. They have rule and reign over the people who live in their country. Therefore, they have the responsibility to care for them, provide for them and keep them safe. God gave us that same responsibility for His creation, because God cares about how they are treated. He loves them. What an awesome God we serve!

I am not saying that we can't use the animals for food or other needs. 1 Corinthians 10:25-26 states, "Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” However, we are to honor them as we consume them like in the movie Avatar when Neyteri had to kill the creature to save Jake Sully's life. She did it while honoring the creature for his sacrifice. Jesus cares about how His creation is treated in all aspects of their lives and of course, I have to mention that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice (John 3:16, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 5:2).

Lastly, Job 12:10 shows the honor in suffering for Jesus and how that suffering leads us to a greater understanding of the Goodness of God. Romans 5:3-2 states,

"Not only so, we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

The fact that suffering leads to hope and God's love being poured into our hearts is paradigm-shifting. Who naturally thinks that suffering and love go together? I wonder if Job did. God chose Job to suffer because he was blameless and upright (Job 1:1). Not because he was doing something wrong. Job lost everything including his family, his farm and all of his possessions and to make matters worse, his friends ridiculed and blamed him for his losses. Thankfully, Job surrendered his suffering to God instead of turning away and going down a dark path. He could have turned to alcohol & drugs, anger, or sexual immorality. Instead, by choosing God, Job got to experience His Goodness in a much greater way, which in turn brings Job indescribable peace, love and joy. When you read the whole chapter (Job 12) Job describes the beauty and majesty of God. My favorite verses are Job 12: 7 - 10,

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

⁸ or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. ⁹ Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? ¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."

These verses are so beautiful! Job was able to see God's majesty in His creation. This must have given Job so much confidence and hope in God. That's what happens when we take our eyes off of our circumstances and focus on who God is. Like how Job was able to see the connection God has with all of creation and how awesome that makes God. How majestic, all powerful, omnipresent and omnipotent. I do not believe Job could describe God this way if he had not lost everything and been mocked and ridiculed. It is so important to surrender our suffering to Jesus. In doing that we are able to experience His Goodness in new, greater ways just like Job.

I am not saying that people don't suffer because of their mistakes. I am saying that suffering is not always a result of our mistakes. Sometimes we suffer for someone else's mistakes and God is so good that He uses that suffering for the purposes and plans that He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). God's plans that bring us closer to Him (Romans 8:28).

What aspect of God's Goodness have you learned as a result of your suffering? The gift of Risen Paws is an example for us. We have been through a lot of hardship to get us here, including physical challenges, loss, injury and mistreatment of our pups while we were away. The hardships coupled with surrender to Jesus has enabled us to create an environment of love and compassion where we can provide the utmost care for your pups. We know that God loves His creation and that He gave us the responsibility to steward them well. Myles and I commit to doing our very best to love your furbabies the way God intended us to.

Risen Paws Story