Our Walk Through the Valley

STRANGE MINISTERS

Ron Dunn

First of all, I want to thank Oscar for relinquishing the pulpit tonight. I thank him for the opportunity to share with you. I appreciate his sensitivity and graciousness. This is the first time I have ever come out and asked somebody if I could preach. Oscar has always meant a great deal to me but he has come to mean so much more to us personally since he has become our interim. I thank the Lord for him. I prayed much about this before I did it.

As I was flying to Anchorage a week ago Saturday night, the Lord was so real. Jack Taylor and I were flying up together. We had been in Kansas City where Kaye went with me and I preached Friday night. She flew back here on Saturday, and Jack and I flew on to Anchorage. The Lord was so real in blessing and ministering. Jack said they could have turned off the engines, and we could have flown them on in. It was during that flight that God began to overwhelm me with a compelling desire to stand here before you and share.

I asked Oscar if he would mind if I spoke tonight for three reasons. First of all, I think you folks have a right to hear a report. Most of you have known us and been a part of our lives, and a partner with us in all this. It would be impossible for us to be able to share with you what your love and concern in the past years has meant to us. Many a time I stood in this place trying to preach with wounds that some of you knew of, and I was always conscious of your prayers. You've been so faithful, understanding and loving I felt like you, as a part of our family, had a right to the report. I would not want to do this in any other church because it wouldn't mean as much to them, and it wouldn't mean nearly as much to me. I am doing this not just for your sakes but I am doing it for mine. By the way, let me say that I will be using the personal pronouns I and me but when I say that, I mean we and us. The testimony I want to give tonight is not mine alone; it is the testimony of Kaye, Steve and Kim too. I can't break the old preacher habit of I and me but you know who I mean. I speak tonight for all of us.

Another reason I felt compared to share this is in the hope that somebody else might be comforted with the same comfort wherewith we have been comforted of the Lord. That's a passage in 2 Corinthians, chapter 1. I read that this afternoon in the New English Bible, and I want to share it with you. It is a tremendous passage. This is not the textâ€”just introduction.

2 Corinthians 1:4ff:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all merciful Father, the God whose consolation never fails us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we in turn may be able to comfort others in any trouble of theirs and to share with them the consolation we ourselves receive from God. As Christ's cup of suffering overflows and we suffer with him, so also through Christ our consolation overflows. If distressed be our lot, it is the price we pay for your consolation, for your salvation. If our lot be consolation, it is to help us to bring you comfort and strength to face with fortitude the same sufferings we now endure.

So the second reason I felt compelled to share this was praying that God would comfort you with the comfort that we have received. The third reason is the greatestâ€”the main reason.

Tonight we want to give testimony to the goodness of our God and the sufficiency of his grace. This is my text. Remember when Paul was languishing in that Roman prison, his future uncertain, he wrote this to that church. He said in Philippians 1:19-20:

For I know that this shall turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I shall not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

That text has ministered to me greatly in the last two weeks. For I know that this (whatever your this isâ€”I know what my this has been) shall turn out for my salvation. The salvation to which he refers here does not mean the initial act of salvation for Paul was already saved. Nor does it mean his deliverance from prison because he goes on to say in the following verses that he is uncertain about that situation. He thinks he may well die. Yet he says for I know, and he uses a word that means to know with certainty. I know that this shall turn out for my salvation. I think here the word salvation indicates spiritual welfareâ€”our well being. He says I know that this shall turn out for my spiritual welfare.

I think this is Paul's own commentary on what he wrote in Romans 8:28: For we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. He did not say I know this will turn out to my satisfaction; he said I know this will turn out for my salvation. Not all things turn out the way we want them to turn out, even when we pray and believe. Paul does not say this will turn out to my satisfaction. I used to think that my satisfaction was the greatest thing that could happen but I have discovered that my salvation is the greatest.

I have discovered that God sometimes withholds the good from us in order that he might give us the best. God does not exist for my convenience so things do not always turn out for our satisfaction. But they can always turn out for our salvation, regardless of what it is. This is something that God has really been saying to me lately. I don't know why I am such a slow learner; it's been in the Bible all the way along. Some verses that I have read flippantly in the past have taken on new meaning for me.

In that verse in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus is talking about the care of our Heavenly Father, it says he notices every sparrow that falls. I've always read that and thought that was wonderful, great. God takes note of every sparrow that falls. But I notice that the sparrow does fall. That never occurred to me before. God doesn't keep the sparrow from falling. It does fall. It does not fall without his interest and concern and love but it does fall.

I read in Psalm 23 where David said though I walk through the valley of the shadow death, I will fear no evil. He didn't say he wouldn't face any evil. We both face and feel the evil but there is no reason to fear it. You do face it.

The three Hebrew children in the fiery furnaceâ€”my what a sermon you can preach on that. They said our God is able to deliver us. That is about as far as I have ever read. Our God is able to deliver us. They went on to say but if not, that's all right too. You see, it's but if not that you have to contend with. Anybody can trust God when he is delivering us. And, O King, our God is able to deliver us but if not, it doesn't make any difference. We are still not going to bow down to your gods. We are still going to trust the Lord.

I was brought again to Paul's thorn in the flesh. He prayed three times for that thorn to be removed. I don't why it surprises me when God doesn't answer my prayers. He didn't answer some of Paul's. Paul prayed three times that God might remove the thorn in the flesh. God didn't. He gave him something better; he always does. I notice that Paul didn't regret having the third heaven experience. I've known some folks who have done an awful lot of rejoicing when God would give them the third heaven experience, and then later on they would renounce it all when he gave them a thorn experience. All of us want the third heaven experience, don't we? Caught up into paradise, an ecstatic experience, just thrilled to death. Friends, along with the third heaven always comes the thorn. You can pray and pray at times, and God may not remove that thorn. No, things don't always turn out the way we want them to turn out, don't always turn out the way we expected them to turn out.

I read this book sometime ago. I read it again this past week, and it meant more to me for some reason. Vance Havner and his wife Sarah were with us in 1970. His wife Sarah died. In the summer of 1974 when my mother was lying in the hospital dying, I bought this book and read it. I gave it to my Dad, and it ministered to him. I read it again last week, and I want to quote something to you from it:

I had hoped for the miraculous healing of Sarah, and that we might bear a dramatic testimony to the direct intervention of God. I had a sermon ready. (Sounds like a preacher, doesn't it? Folks, I've had a sermon ready for a long timeâ€”when God answered to my satisfaction.) But it was not to be. My dearest died in spite of the day and night efforts of a medical center equipped with the very latest and best in machines, medicines, and methods. It did not please God to heal her. My disappointment was intense but sober thinking has changed my views. If a dramatic experience of healing had been ours, it would have been sensational but such experiences are rare and my listeners would have said that's very wonderful but it happens only once in awhile, and it is the exception that proves the rule. Most of us do not have such miracles. Our loved ones die, and hopes fade, and we need a word for those who walk the valley with no happy ending to the story. I can see now that God denied me what I sought that I might bring a message to the multitude like myself whose prayers were not answered as hoped. So I preach and write for a host of fellow travelers through the valley whose hopes like mine were not realized and whose deepest wish was not granted. If we can move through this valley and come out in victory, we have found a greater blessing than if our personal wish had been fulfilled in some miraculous way.

So, things don't always turn out to our satisfaction. This experience with our son has not turned out the way we wanted, the way we expected. I would like to tell you what I had always prayed and hoped and very firmly believed. I had prayed and hoped, and it was my deepest wish, that one day Ronnie would stand here in this place and preach the gospel. Yet, I have to say to you tonight that I believe he is. I think like Samson he has slain more in his death than he ever slew in his life. I can't really explain it, and I'm not really interested in trying to explain it but I feel closer to him in death than I ever felt in life.

Kaye and I went to Kansas City last week. I was to preach on Friday night. I got out of the car, and we walked up to the building. I suddenly said out loud, Ronnie, this is for you. That night I felt as I stood and preached, he stood in me. I have felt that ever since. I feel it tonight. I feel God had called him to preach, and that now I preach for two. As I said, I can't explain it but he is closer to me in death than he ever was in life.

For death can hide but not divide;

He is but on Christ's other side;

He with Christ, and Christ with me,

United still in Christ are we.

Though this has not turned out to my satisfaction; it is turning out to my salvation. I want to share with you that salvation, that spiritual welfare that God has wrought in our lives through this valley. He says I know this will turn to my salvation because of two things: your prayers and the provision of the Spirit.

Don't get worried. That's just two points but I have another one I will bring up later. There are two things that contribute to our salvation: the prayers of the saints and the provision of the Spirit. He said I know that this is going to turn out for my spiritual welfare because you prayed for me.

I. The prayers of God's people

I got a letter the other day from a preacher friend I've not seen in a couple years. He had only heard about Ronnie's death. He said that for the past four weeks he had been strangely exercised to intercede for me. I've had a number of people tell me that. God was getting us ready. When we arrived home that Sunday night, I thank the Lord for those folks that met us, three precious couples. When they came and said, Ronnie is dead, I wasn't surprised. Somehow God had prepared us.

I've never known before what the verse meant when it said "bear ye one another's burdens." I had talked about this with Kaye. I told her if anything horrible ever happened to us, if we ever had a tragedy, I didn't want to see anybody. I'm a very private person, and so is my wife. I'd always said I didn't want anybody coming around. I don't want to see anyone. I just want to be alone. That's just what I thought. It is interesting how God protects us.

We had intended to come home right after church that Sunday morning and would have arrived about six o'clock. While we were eating, we decidedâ€”I decided, let's just stay a few more hours. So we didn't leave until four o'clock. If we had left when we originally intended to leave, we would have been the ones to discover that Ronnie was dead. That would have been difficult. Just coincidentally, we decided to stay longer so God spared us. They stayed for a while, and then sensed that we needed to be alone. We were alone for a little bit.

We went to bed that night, and I woke up Monday morning desperately needing people, desperately needing peopleâ€”never wanted people so much in my life. Boy, did we have them! We had a house full. Friends came; people called on the phone, willing to fly in just to be with us if we needed them. Miss Bertha Smith called from Kansas City where I was supposed to be. She got Kaye and I on the phone, and she started singing the verses of How Firm a Foundation. I can't tell you what that meant to us. People would come to the house. They would say they didn't know what to say. That is a helpless feeling, isn't it? You just don't know what to say. They would apologize for not knowing what to say. You don't have to say anything; your heart says it all.

So to all of you who came to the house, sent cards, prayed, didn't know whether it was all right to come byâ€”but cared for us, I want to say thank you. You made an intolerable burden bearable. I want to say this: during those days there has never been as much joy and peace and victory in our home as then. I wish you could have been there the night the Badry brothers sang and Peter preached. I've never known such joy. It is interesting how you can have joy in the midst of grief. I've never known such grief, and yet through it all I've never known such joy.

Flying up on the plane that night, I made a note. It may sound strange to you but I made a note to the Lord. Lord, I wouldn't have missed this for anything. I've never known the joy, the peace, the awareness of his presence. You didn't have to do that. I was no longer your pastor but you treated me as though I had never left. I really haven't; I still live here. I want to say something to you. Your love and your concern and your care has been a magnificent testimony to others.

I thank the Lord for Jack Taylor and Manley Beasley who flew up to be with us. Bro. T. D. Hall has been with us in this.. They shared at the graveside. What a blessing it was. God was so real. They said some things that ministered greatly to us. I want to say to you tonight: don't ever underestimate the power of your presence. God has richly ministered to us through people. Thank you. I just wish I could take you in my arms tonight and hug everyone of you. You'll never know what you have meant to us during these days. It wasn't just your love for us, but it was your love for Ronnie that meant so much to us.

Tonight, I want to thank those who took a special interest in our boy. Many of you did not know him but there were some who took a very special interest in him. They would call him up and say let's go hunting or canoeing. That meant a great deal to usâ€”and to him. He often talked about you. I'll not name you because you know who you are. At times I thought he must love you more than he loved usâ€”but that's a typical teenager, isn't it? I want to thank you tonight for making a terrible, intolerable burden bearable. God bless you.

II. The provision of the Spirit

I've tried to make some notes during these days of what God has been saying to me and teaching us. When we got home that Sunday night, and the word was given that Ronnie was dead, the first word that came to my mind was Psalm 115:2-3. The second verse says something like this: But now the heathen will say, now where is thy God? The third verse says but our God is in his heaven, and he hath done whatsoever he pleased.

God has said two or three things to us through this time.

1) He has confirmed his Word to us.

A man wrote me a letter the other day and said I know that during these days, you are going to be like Bunyan's character in Pilgrim's Progress when he was drowning. He said he touched bottom and found that it was solid. Folks, I want you to know that in the past two weeks I have touched bottom. I have good news for you. It's solid. I think one reason I wanted to come back and speak to you is because for the past several years I have said a lot of things, haven't I? I don't know how many times I've preached God is good, that God won't hurt you, you can always trust God, all things work together. Do you remember those sermons? I got a letter today from somebody suggesting I listen to a couple of my own tapes. I want to stand here tonight and tell you I haven't had to take back a word I've ever preachedâ€”not a single word. It is truer than it has ever been; I believe it more than I've ever believed it in my life.

I have a sermon I've preached quite a bit: Thankful in Everything. I've preached that sermon and skeptics have come up afterwards and said it's easy for you but you don't know what I've been through. Just wait until something real tragic happens.

When I flew to Kansas City with Kaye Friday night, do you know what I preached? I preached "in everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus." Folks, I believe it. I've touched bottom, and it's solid. I believe the Bible more than I have ever believed it before. I've wanted to preach it more than I've ever wanted to preach it before. I have a greater joy in preaching it than I've ever had before. I wanted to share this in case any of you have been wondering and worrying. I haven't had to take back a single word I've ever preached. It's true. I've stood here and preached it many a time without going through deep sorrow. But I want to announce that from the apex, the top of that summit of grief, God's Word is true, and his grace is sufficient. I still want to say God is good, regardless. Our God is in his heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he has pleased.

2) God is our comfortâ€”both the source and the subject.

God himself is our comfort. That is what Paul says. He is the God of all comfort. During these days we have had people who have tried to comfort us by giving some explanations as to why it happened. I've had several letters. They have said "you know this" and "you know that." Somebody said they were so glad when they discovered this past August that there were medical and emotional reasons for what happened. There were, and I could stand tonight and give you explanations but I have to tell you we have not gained any comfort in any explanations. After you've given all the explanations as to why it happened, Ronnie is still gone. Nothing has changed. By the way, let me say for the record that we are not asking any questions at our house, and we are not seeking any answers or explanations. He is the answer. He is the explanation.

When David was going through the valley, he said: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort meâ€”not anything else. I appreciate every word that everybody has said, trying to soften the blow by giving a reason, an explanation. But that brings no comfort whatsoever, and I'm not interested. God is our comfort. He is our comfort.

I have never known as much the truth of that Scripture: Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. It doesn't say thou will keep him in perfect peace who knows all the answers, all the whys and wherefores. It says I will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. I have to be honest with you. That peace leaves me when my mind leaves the Lord. I don't mean to stand here tonight and say everything is hunky dory; we are just having a rip roaring good time, and there is no grief. Oh, there is. There come those dark moments. The devil kicks you when you are down.

We had such a tremendous trip up to Anchorage, Alaska. We got there, checked into the hotel, and it was 30Â° below, dreary, thousands of miles from home, tired, exhausted from the travel. Jack went into his room. I opened the door to my room, and there sitting on the end of the bed was the devil grinning and saying, I've been expecting you. We have learned that God is our comfort. I cannot get over it; I am overwhelmed by God's comfort.

3) We don't need to be afraid of anything.

That's a good lesson. We have learned that we do not need to be afraid of anything. I said a moment ago that in some of these Scriptures I have gone over, I've missed the real meaning. I went over Psalm 23 on that plane trip to Alaska. He says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow death, I will fear no evil, for thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. He goes on and says, and goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I had always thought that David was talking about his death. I don't believe he was because he goes on to say that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of his life. He is going to continue living. He was walking not through the valley of death; he was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Somebody's death had cast a shadow on David, and he was walking in the shadow of that death. He said, I will fear no evil.

Ronnie's death has cast a shadow over us. I live under that shadow. As I said earlier, it doesn't say we won't face the evil. Folks, we have faced it and felt it. He says I will not fear it. I'll not be afraid of it. All of a sudden I realized I guess there is a fear that every parent has, and that's the fear of losing one of their children. I remember when Ronnie was a little boy of two or three years old, many nights I would go in and kneel beside his bed. I would pray, Oh, God don't ever let anything happen to him. Every time I would read in the paper about somebody losing a childâ€”a little boy running out in the street and being run over, something like thatâ€”it was like somebody twisting a knife in your heart. Parents, you know what I'm talking about. I always thought if anything happened to one of my children, I couldn't stand it. I've learned that I don't have to be afraid of any evil. God has proven to us, indisputably, that his grace is sufficient. I can't fathom or imagine any deeper agony. I know if I were to lose my wife, or if my other children were to be taken, that God's grace is sufficient to see me through. So why be afraid?

In 1 John 5, he says the devil can't touch you. I thought he could but he really can't. There is a funny passage in 1 Peter 3 that says nobody can harm you, even if you suffer. You mean you can suffer and yet not be harmed? That's right. You can suffer and still not be hurt.

Last Friday night after the service, my wife was talking to the pastor's wife. For the past eight years they have gone through hell with their son. Only that week he had shown up again--asking to come home. She talked to my wife and said, you know there has been one fear that has gripped my heart for eight years. That is that something would happen to my son. It has made me sick. After seeing you tonight, I know there's nothing to fear. Even if it happens, I know God is sufficient.

I say, let the devil throw his worst; I will fear no evil. Thou art with me. God has taught me that lesson. I wouldn't have missed it. Why worry about going broke now? What is there left to fear? Nothing. Why? He has demonstrated that his grace is sufficient.

4) God has pressed us to himself.

There is a hymn we sing, number 292. The second verse goes like this:

Once earthly joy I craved,

Sought peace and rest;

Now Thee alone I seek,

Give what is best.

During these days there is one thing that God has been doing; he has been pressing us to himself. He has been shutting us up to himself. All the things that we possess never meant so little as they mean today. This world has never meant as little to us as it means tonight. An interesting thingâ€”I think I love my wife and my children more than I've ever loved them before. My love and joy in them has increased. My love and joy in God has increased all the more.

Three weeks ago in Miami, I preached a new message that I have never preached before. I felt strange while I was preaching it. I didn't even have an introduction. When I started to preach, God just gave me the introduction. I had no idea what I was going to say. This is what I said: My prayer lately has been "God, keep me useable." The thing that jeopardizes my usefulness more than anything else is God's blessings. My text was 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul said that he was just about to be exalted above measure because God had blessed him so much. I made a statement in that message. I prayed that God would keep me useable, and the way he keeps his people useable is by giving them thorns to remind them of their weakness. I had no idea that I was preaching to myself. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I prayed that God would turn off the fire but he heated the furnace seven times hotter. I prayed that God would not give me the thorn but he did. Along with it he gave me the grace. I have learned to be pressed into God. When there is nobody else to turn to and friends have done all they can do, there is only one who can reach inside your heart and give you joy and peace and expectancy and make you face it. That's God. He's pressed us to himself. Listen to this.

I thank God for the bitter things;

They've been a friend to grace.

They have driven me from the paths of ease

To storm the secret place.

I'm grateful too through all life's way.

No one could satisfy.

So I found in God alone my rich, my full supply.

I love him tonight more than I have ever loved him before. I trust him tonight more than I have ever trusted him before. He is more real to me tonight than he has ever been before. Not only has God increased my love for my remaining family on this earth; he has made something else real. As we were driving to the cemetery that day, my dad was sitting on my right. It was just a little over a year earlier that we buried my mother. I felt sorry for dad. I knew the heartbreak. Ronnie was especially dear to both of themâ€”the firstborn. As we were riding, I put my hand on my dad's leg and I said, Dad, do you remember when Barry (that's my brother) went to Vietnam some years ago? We had hardly even heard of it then. I didn't even know where it was. Do you remember how suddenly we got all interested in Vietnam? Do you remember when we would read in the newspaper about something happening in Da Nang or somewhere else, how we would get down the map and look to see how far away that was from Barry. We had a new interest in Vietnamâ€”somebody there we loved so we were more interested in it than ever before. Dad, you know we've been putting a lot of interest in heaven lately.

God has pressed us to himself. I thank him for it. I want to give that testimony.

He emptied my hands of my treasured store,

And his covenant love revealed

There was not a wound in my aching heart

But the balm of his breath has healed.

Oh, tender and true was the chastening sore

In wisdom that taught and tried

Til the soul that he sought was trusting in him

And nothing on earth beside.

Folks, that's the way I want it to be--trusting in him alone, and nothing on earth beside. I have not come here to magnify my sorrow; I've come to magnify my Savior.

III. The praise of the Savior.

He said, I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit, and that now as always in nothing I shall be ashamed (and folks, I'm not) but now as always Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or death. I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ some years ago that he might magnify himself in my body, whether by life or by death. I was meaning my life or my death but I found out it can be somebody's else's life or death. I want to praise my Savior tonight.

When T. D., Jack and Manley finished speaking at the cemetery, I had a song in my heart. I had to sing it. I said, T.D., let's sing. We sang:

Glory, glory to the Father,

Glory, glory to the Son,

Glory, glory to the Spirit,

Glory to the three in one.

We praised him. Lord, I praise you, praise the Lamb for sinners slain. That's what I want to doâ€”praise him. Praise him for his saving grace. Praise him for his sustaining grace. I want you to know, folks, you can trust God.

The other day something came in the mail. I had almost forgotten about it. It was Ronnie's passport. After Christmas, December 29 as a matter of fact, our whole family is going to Switzerland and be back after the first of the year. I remember the day that I took the three children downtown and had their pictures made. It was a lot of funâ€”a good day. We went over and had the picture made and made application for the passport. Then for the next few days the kids would ask, "Has the passport come yet?" There is a sign in the passport office that says if you look like your picture, you need the trip. And the pictures were terrible. It was a good day. We were all looking forward to it. Well, his passport came in the mail this past week. We didn't open it. We put it away. It will never be used. But he had another passport to a far more beautiful country than Switzerland. I was looking forward to taking the family to Switzerland and showing them the countryâ€”the Alps, the Matterhorn, all those beautiful places.

But our whole family has another kind of passport. It just occurred to me the other day that I wanted to take Ronnie around Switzerland and show him the beauties of that country. One of these days when we step over, he will meet us. He'll say, "Dad, let me show you around the beauties of this country." And the hurt comes when I think about what he is missing. Isn't that silly?

I was in Alaska, and we talked about some folks coming up with the family next summer and going on a bear hunt. I thought how Ronnie would have loved that. Lord, how can I take going to Switzerland? Everywhere I go I will be saying I wish Ronnie was here. The Lord said, son, he is not the one who is missing it. What are the Swiss Alps compared to the throne of the Lamb? So I thank God that he had another passport, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. Our whole family has that passport. I look forward to that day when we will all see that beautiful country together.

This is my testimony. I don't feel that I've said it well, or said it all but I trust you know what is in my heart. I simply want to praise him and magnify my Savior. He is good. He won't hurt you. I know that this shall turn for my salvation so that Christ will be magnified.

Let's pray together . . .

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