The smallest creature may be the means of a great sorrow, and the pet you cherish may become the messenger of a gentle chastisement from the hand of the Lord. Yet He who notes the fall of a sparrow marks also the flutter of your dove’s wing, and He is not unmindful of your tears. Cry mightily unto Him who healeth all diseases, for He giveth not only sleep to His beloved but also healing according to His own wise will.
Your poor dove, so innocent and mild, is a picture of what we all are, fragile, wounded by the teeth of the adversary, and utterly dependent upon a Higher Power for recovery. Yet do you not know that the very leaves of the Tree of Life are for healing? Bring your grief to Jesus, for the least touch of His garment is charged with restoring virtue. He can mend that tiny frame, or if it pleases Him otherwise, He can heal the bruise of your spirit by drawing you closer to His own heart.
But hark, I pray you: while you love your dove with all your heart and soul, take care that this strong affection does not eclipse the greater love. The dove that returns to its cot seems to have more heart in its migratory instinct than many a professing Christian has for the house of God. Let this trial cause you to ask whether your heart flies homeward with such certainty to your Beloved in heaven. Jesus is the Well-Beloved, fairer than all the sons of men; and when we set our love too fixedly upon the creature, we are like a silly dove without heart for the things of eternity. You are “greatly beloved” of God, if you are in Christ; and that love is a peace which no cat can snatch, no hawk destroy.
Call upon the Lord without ceasing, and then leave the issue with Him. If He restore your pet, let your gratitude rise like incense, and love the Giver more than the gift. If He choose to take it, let your soul be still, for you are accepted in the Beloved, and no earthly loss can pluck you from that blessed security. The Lord teach you so to prize the Precious One that every lesser love finds its true proportion in Him.