Question from a reader:
A horrible person killed my dog. Where we live there is no accountability, no justice will be served, and I know there is nothing I can do to get justice for my beloved dog. I need some guidance as a Christian. I have times where I feel like I need to seek accountability myself if the law won’t. It’s not right as this person has killed multiple animals just for walking on his property. Please help me understand how to seek justice and get peace.
Answer from Stephanie Anderson, EPM staff:
I’m so very sorry to hear about your dog. How heartbreaking. If you’ve followed Randy’s blog, you likely know that he loves dogs and has a tender heart for animals.
It’s hard for us to speak into your exact situation and what you should/shouldn’t do. Certainly, if there are legal means to pursue justice, and to prevent this person from hurting other animals, we would encourage you to seek that out. Seeking justice in that way can be a form of actually loving our neighbor because it is aimed at preventing them from causing future harm. However, it sounds like perhaps you already have looked into this, and there’s not much hope of things being made right this side of Heaven.
The one Scripture that come to mind, as far as your own heart/peace, is Romans 12:19, which says, “Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, ‘I will take revenge; I will pay them back,’ says the LORD” (NLT). And then two verses later: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21, ESV).
I wanted to share these reflections from Randy with you. And here are some longer thoughts from him related to a specific unjust situation someone had asked about.
Proverbs 20:22 says, “Don’t say, ‘I will get even for this wrong.’ Wait for the LORD to handle the matter.” See this article from Randy related to waiting on God and also this one.
Do you have a church home, where a pastor or church leader can come alongside you and offer counsel and wisdom from God’s Word? We are also big advocates of biblical counseling, and would encourage you to pursue that if possible. You are grieving right now, and it sounds like you could benefit from some additional help to process all you’re going through. (This link provides some resources as a starting place.)
As far as grieving your dog, here is a blog from Randy. And here is what he wrote after the death of his beloved dog, Maggie.
May you sense God’s love and comfort as you grieve. God is not unjust; one day, all will be made right. I pray you can trust Him through this pain, and know that He is with you, and that He sees and He knows all. Even in this terrible situation, He is at work.
