The year 1973 marked a very low point in the life of Vance Havner, America’s most quoted preacher. It was the year his beloved wife and companion of thirty-three years was struck down by a fatal and dreaded disease which distorted her lovely features and rendered her a helpless invalid. She departed this life to be forever with the Lord on September 2, 1973.
Though I Walk Through the Valley is the chronicle of Vance Havner’s passage through the darkest valley of his life, the record of how his faith in God triumphed in the crucible of suffering and bereavement.
Don’t expect these pages to be filled with time-worn clichés or pat answers. The book is written from the vantage point of one who has kept vigil alongside the hospital bed of his dying wife.
People say things like, “I’m so sorry you’ve lost your wife.” Havner responds: “Lost is not the right word for Christians divided by death. You haven’t lost anything when you know where it is!”
People also say, “I know just how you feel,” to which Havner replies: “People often try to sympathize, but you have to go through this to know what it is like. You cannot share by imagination or observation. You have been there or you haven’t.”
“Now that she’s gone, do the best you can.” Havner responds: “I want to do the best that Christ can do in me, exceedingly abundant above all I can ask or think.”
Vance Havner (1901-1986) was a unique servant of God whose spoken ministry spanned over seventy years and whose written ministry extended to almost forty books. Michael Catt, Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, says of him: "There was no one like Vance Havner. His preaching style was unique, powerful, and pointed. He was a master at turning a phrase, using humor to set up a point, and then driving the point home like a sharp, two-edged sword. Every Christian should read Vance Havner… If you love A. W. Tozer, you'll love Vance Havner. He was one of God's gifts to the church in the 20th century. His ministry and his preaching needs to be heard in the 21st century."
