A Walk In That Valley

A Walk In That Valley I edited this issue’s features on “Fear Of The Lord” early in the morning, before my walk to a men’s Bible study. As I picked up my pace in the cold December air, a tightness I had felt before in my chest returned - this time growing into pain. Beginning to sweat I thought, “This feels serious.”
After the study, I accepted a friend’s offer of a ride home and prayed with my wife for God’s guidance before phoning a doctor-friend who walked me through a long day of diagnostic procedures that ended with the cardiologist saying, “You need quadruple bypass surgery immediately.” The surgeon explained the operation: “We’ll cut your sternum and spread open your chest. A ventilator will breathe for you. A pump will do your heart’s work while we use vein segments taken from your leg to by-pass the four blockages that could have killed you.” Then he said to my family, “When you first see him after the operation, his pulse will be weak, his color will be gray and he will feel cold. He may appear dead, but don’t worry, he’ll recover. One of my sons said, “Sounds like what they call a near-death experience to me, Dad.” His words brought Psalm 23:4 to mind: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Going through this “valley” could be cause for real fear, except for one thing: I knew my “Shepherd” was with me. I began that December day by editing this issue’s two features about “Fear Of The Lord,” but ended it by discovering that because the Lord is my Shepherd I had no need to fear heart surgery - or anything else. That night I put myself to sleep with these comforting words about the Lord: “Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave” (Ps. 16:8-10). By Larry Ondrejack