Walking through the Valley

Prior to my father passing away from a lengthy battle with pain and internal bleeding from an aortic aneurism, God put this verse in my path:

"Even thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me."

After a restless night, I woke up in the morning with the desire to watch to an sermon online. It was Sunday morning, but I couldn't bring myself to go to church right now. There were too many unanswered questions. I couldn't hold it together surrounded by my spiritual family. They cared too deeply. So, I turned on the computer and began to seek who to listen to. There were many to chose from, but for some reason I chose Rick Warren of Saddleback church. I don't usually listen to Rick although I enjoy his teaching.

I pulled up Saddleback and found a worship service from the week before. I thought I might find something live, but it didn't matter. The service began with announcements. The host said, "This morning we are going to recognize and appreciate all those people who work in the health care field." Wow, I thought. Those are the very people I feel so indebted to right now. And I've never seen a church service recognize them.

A couple worship songs and then Rick began to speak. He said we're in a sermon series taken from the 23rd Psalm. Huh, that's a chapter in the Bible I might read to someone in the hospital to comfort them. Maybe this was from God for me today?

Tim with Bill during one of three stays at Munson Hospital

Rick continued by saying we're looking at verse 4 today, "Even thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me." Tears swelled up in my eyes as I thought of my father and the chance of losing him.

The message was that a shadow is nothing to fear. "Have you ever been run over by the shadow of a truck?" It didn't hurt, did it? It was harmless. The shadow of death cannot hurt us, if we are Christians. Don't fear the shadow. In fact, if you see a shadow, that indicates something else-there is a light! Shadows don't exist without a light! Rick said, look to the light. Jesus is the light.

This is a valley most of us will walk through. Ether with a friend or a loved one, we'll be faced with this deep, dark, lonely valley. It comes upon us quickly without warning nor time for preparation. Words like "hospice" and "palliative care" are spoken in hushed tones.  The tears come in waves unexpectedly as the reality of a loved ones absence set is.

We can take comfort knowing the following:

1. The valley is temporary.
2. The shadow is harmless.
3. The shadow indicates the presence of light.
4. Look to the light! He is with you.