I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13.
G. Silwood was a preacher of the gospel in England. Owing to a serious illness he was beridden for years. In his last years his pains were almost unbearable, but he bore them with great patience. Through prayer he obtained the strength to do so from his Redeemer. One day an atheist sent him a script entitled: “Who was Jesus?” Silwood wrote an answer for him: “I no longer have the strength to reply to all that this script states about the Lord Jesus. Indeed, I cannot answer the question, “Who was Jesus?” sufficiently well. However, lying on my sick bed, I should like to write what He means to me.
“I experience His comfort, support and preservation daily in all my fear and suffering, which would be unbearable without Him. Through nights of sleeplessness and days of pain my loving Saviour is always present with me. In days of good health and activity I found that He is what he says of Himself. And now, in sickness and helplessness I know more than ever that He is a living reality.
“May I ask you a question in answer to your question? Have you ever been in my situation, with only one step between yourself and eternity? If that is the case, did you find the comfort, joy and rest in your unbelief that I now have in the Lord Jesus? What the Lord Jesus is for me in my present circumstances I cannot describe in words. Even in face of death I can be comforted and happy. Can you say the same for yourself?”