A worker of the Lord also has to pay attention to his own body. We know that Paul was a very gifted brother, and he prayed many times for others' healings. Yet he spoke of three persons who were never healed—Trophimus, Timothy, and himself. When Trophimus became ill, Paul did not pray for his healing, nor did he exercise his healing gift. Instead he said, "Trophimus I left at Miletus sick" (2 Tim. 4:20). As for Timothy, his stomach pain and his frequent illnesses never left him (1 Tim. 5:23). Paul did not exercise his gift or pray for Timothy's healing. He healed many people. It would be reasonable to assume that since so many had been healed, he should have healed Timothy as well. Timothy was a successor to Paul's work, and he was indispensable. Yet Paul did not heal Timothy. His sickness was in God's hand; it was not in Paul's hand. What did he say? He said, "No longer drink water only, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses" (1 Tim. 5:23). In other words, Timothy needed to take care of his health. He needed to exercise care—eating what was good for him and refraining from what was not good for him, taking things that would relieve his stomach pain and abstaining from things that would upset it. This was Paul's word to Timothy. As for Paul himself, he spoke of a thorn in his flesh, concerning which he prayed to the Lord three times. Yet the Lord did not heal him. Instead He said, "My grace is sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:9). Trophimus's illness did not go away, Timothy's illness did not go away, and the thorn in Paul's flesh remained; their illnesses were not healed. With Paul, we do not see the "wrecking rock" being removed. Yet we see his vessel still sailing on. Although the rock—his sickness—was still present, God raised the water level, and his vessel was able to glide over the obstructing rock without suffering any damage. This was Paul's testimony.
Brothers and sisters, it takes ten or twenty years of training in God's hand before a man can become somewhat useful to Him. If we want to run a good race and be somewhat mature in the Lord, we need at least ten or twenty years of training. Yet some who do not take proper care of their own health may die before they reach that point. This is most unfortunate. Some do not start running until they have been in the Lord for twenty or thirty years. Then they touch the right way, and their usefulness begins to blossom. The church should not only have children and young men, but fathers as well. All those who desire to serve the Lord should consider it to be a great waste for a brother or a sister to die prematurely after spending many years and much effort to learn his or her lessons! We know that some vessels are broken and damaged halfway through the process. This is a pity. This is like Jeremiah's speaking concerning the vessels in the hand of the potter being spoiled (Jer. 18:4). When a potter turns his wheel and molds his vessels, some become damaged before they even reach the fire. They do not even pass the formative stage. This is a loss. The church has already suffered the loss of many who failed the test of trials and temptations. If the Lord is merciful to us, we can be spared from such damage, breakage, and wreckage. The Lord may have more crosses for us, and His intention may be for us to become more useful in our latter years. It takes much time for the Lord to complete a trial in us. Some trials take a year or even a few years to complete. A child of God may not have the chance to go through too many trials in his lifetime. We can only experience a few trials. Many are crushed as soon as a trial comes. It is sad, as well as a loss, when a trial does not produce the desired result in them. With the passing of time, year after year and decade after decade, how many of God's children are safely preserved to reach the other side of their trials? We have to say that not too many are preserved. Do not think that this is a simple thing. Too many have fallen by the wayside! Of the six hundred thousand souls among the Israelites, only two entered Canaan alive [Joshua and Caleb], and two others entered Canaan dead [Jacob and Joseph]. So few were the ones who survived and who made it. What a pity that by the time the trials were almost over, they had died one by one! If it is the Lord's will that we die early, we have nothing to say. But if we die through our own neglect of our health, it is God's work that suffers. If the church is to be rich, it must have brothers who are in their seventies, eighties, and even nineties. If the Lord ordains that one or two of them go to Him early, we have nothing to say. But if we want to be useful in the work, we have to spend some time to take care of our body. We cannot be careless. It is a big problem if a worker has reached the end of his days by the time he is well trained! It is most unfortunate when a man falls just as he is about finished with his training. If all the workers of the Lord are this way, the work cannot go on. What a pity it is when the body becomes corrupt before the work ever begins, or when a person dies before he has ever become useful!