All Things
Wes Wick
Just weeks into this new year, we’ve already been touched by the passing of several wonderful Christians who have left a powerful legacy.
Minutes after reading through a compelling December interview with Dr. George Wood, our former pastor and Assemblies of God general superintendent, we learned of his death.
In the interview Dr. Wood commented on the familiar passage where Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
As he pointed out, this passage can be easily misunderstood, like unrealistic hyperbole.
The reason I didn’t understand it was because he was in prison. He’s in a prison cell, he is chained to a guard, and he is saying, “I can.” And I want to shout at him through the tunnel of time, hey, Paul, don’t you realize you can’t do anything, your traveling days are over, your epistle writing days are nearly done? You're not planting churches anymore. People aren’t being healed under your ministry.
Then it dawned on me one day that prison was the hardest thing God ever asked him to do. And what that phrase means is I can even do this.
And that has been meaningful to me in this time when I’m fighting stage 4 cancer. I can do this through Christ who strengthens me, whether He chooses to heal me on this side of the Jordan or heal me on the opposite side of the Jordan. I’ve never felt spiritually stronger in my life than I do now.
And even as the Apostle Paul, Dr. Wood, and others drew close to their final breaths, they continued to touch many lives, ours included.
Some of our Young Enough to Serve heroes have reached the end of life ‘on this side of Jordan’. Yes, we can face even death with Christ beside us, giving us hope and strength.
With that understanding and assurance, being Young Enough to Serve, too, is not just wishful thinking. Many find ways to serve and impact others, up to the very end.