The Word of Wisdom

Learn how the revelation gifts: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge and discerning of the spirits saves the life of two people.

The Gift of the Word of Wisdom in Operation
I was born again at the University of California in Irvine, California, during my senior year. After spending five tough years studying drama and dance, God led me to return home to Canton, Ohio. One of my closest high school buddies came by my house and severely attacked me because of my faith in Christ. Having spent a summer in New York together viewing several Broadway shows, and being unimpressed, we had plans of completing college, immersing ourselves in the fine arts, learning all that we could, then reuniting and taking Broadway by storm. But now I was saved and greatly humbled and clueless as to what God would do with my life. To Zack, I had copout on life, abandoned our adolescent dreams of conquering the world, and embraced religion out of weakness, insecurity, and the fear of succeeding.

What were my plans? What were my dreams now? I hadn’t a clue. It was all in God’s hand and, with that, Zack ripped into me like a vicious piranha. My young, defenseless heart was no match for his words which cut like daggers, and he left me irreparably wounded. In what I thought was a justifiable anger, I shut him out of my life and didn’t speak to him for about five years until early one morning, as I stood in my tiny bedroom, the Lord spoke clearly to my spirit and said, “You better contact Zack and tell him you love him.” At that moment, I was hit upside the head with what I could only describe as a gigantic powder puff of God’s love. Pooofff! My legs wobbled like a drunken man, and I fell on my knees next to my bed. The love was so pure, so intoxicating, so overpowering, that I felt deeply embarrassed over my anger and bitterness against Zack.

While laboring in repentance and prayer, I had a vision of Zack in a tastefully decorated room with reddish wallpaper with matching plush carpet, falling upon a deep red bedspread, and weeping uncontrollably. Suddenly, in a flash, I saw Zack’s death, his memorial service in which I was officiating, and the reading of the will to his family in a vision. Also, in an instant, God revealed to me that I was to tell Zack that he was HIV positive. When I came up from prayer, I was dumbfounded at what I saw. I was even further puzzled because I had not spoken to Zack in years since our estrangement and had no way of contacting him. Only days later, the phone rang, and it was Zack on the other line.
“Pugh, what’s up?” he asked rather cheerfully.
“Zack, Zack, man, I love you. I’m sorry, please forgive me,” I begged.
“Ah, yeah Pugh, I forgive you, man. It’s been a long time. Let’s hook up!”

Ever so capricious when together, we agreed to rendezvous in Atlanta, Georgia, for a weekend after squashing the possibility of meeting in Morocco and New Orleans. My brief two-hour flight from the Akron-Canton Airport to Hartsville-Jackson Atlanta International Airport got me to the terminal 20 minutes before Zach’s flight from San Francisco arrived. It had been several years since I had last seen or spoken to Zack, and I wondered what this reunion would reveal.

As I fumbled through the busy baggage claim area, I gazed upward and caught a glimpse of Zack descending the escalator. My mouth dropped, and my eyes widened. With 15 pounds of healthy weight on his tall frame, his radiant skin, bright smile, and rigorous stride, Zack looked like the very epitome of health. He was a far cry from the scrawny guy that I had known him to be throughout our friendship. AIDS? Certainly, I’ve misheard God, I thought.

With little time to search for comfortable accommodations, we ended up booking a seedy downtown Atlanta motel. The dingy double-bedded room, with its leaky faucets, stained carpet and dated decorum, reeked of tobacco smoke and gave me the creeps. After dinner and a little talking, Zack was off to the bars enjoying the Atlanta nightlife, while I stayed in the motel room seeking the face of God for the right time in which to break this news to him.

Late that night, Zack burst into the room and I awoke from a horrible sleep that left me yelling at the top of my lungs. His efforts to console me were fruitless. The place was giving me nightmares, so the next morning I went looking for another place to stay and ran into an upscale hotel nestled in the downtown area only blocks away. They just happened to be offering a weekend special, and with that, I reserved a double bed. After taking the keyed elevator to the seventh floor, I opened the door to an immaculate suite, with plush velvet red carpet and beautiful red bedspreads. This is the room I had seen in the vision. I knew that I was on track! I had to wait on the Holy Spirit’s timing in order to complete my assignment.

Zack’s cavorting throughout Atlanta’s hot spots left little time for any serious talking and, to add to the frustration, Zack’s longtime college girlfriend, Rachel, whom I knew well, flew out to join us in Atlanta. He reserved a bedroom next door, and it was off to see the sights. The three of us spent the day laughing inside taxi cab rides, acting out clips from popular movies, browsing novelty shops, clothing stores, museums and dining in fine restaurants with excellent cuisine during the day. At night, Rachel and Zack combed the clubs while I spent time alone, praying. Though our moments together were reminiscent of the fun we shared during school days, time was winding down and I began to doubt my assignment once again.

The night before our departure, Zack, rather tipsy from drinking wine, stumbled into my room sometime after midnight and announced in a serious tone:
“Pugh, I’m going to ask Rachel to marry me!” Of course, I was shocked and could not hide it.
“You can’t, Zack!” I said.
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because you have AIDS,” I blurted out.
With that, Zack sank onto the red bedspread and wept uncontrollably.

The word of the Lord is a sure word. Within three years, Zack quit his job on the West Coast, returned home bitter, sick and broken and eventually passed away from HIV complications, but not before being gloriously transformed by the blood of the Lamb. One of the most cynical persons I knew, the type who fed Christians to the lions, lifted his hands and gave God maximum praise.

I stood with him throughout the entire ordeal until the end, securing his disability benefits, taking him to the hospital, making funeral arrangements, reading the will to the family and finally performing the eulogy. This was a word of wisdom fulfilled—and I could write a book about the many lessons that God used Zack to teach, rebuke, and humble me in his affliction.

Excerpt taken from “The Nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Maturity Series III”. Available on amazon.com in audio, ebook, paperback and hardback. Available for FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

Originally Posted: June 3, 2023