Brother Nee gave the following answer:

Concerning the matter of healing, we must pay attention to three things: 1) Do not tempt God, 2) Do not accept the symptom, and 3) Believe that the grace is sufficient.

Timothy had a chronic stomach problem. Paul advised him to no longer drink water. In those days the Jews had water ponds beneath their houses to store rain water or water diverted from another source. Bacteria grew in the water and made it unsanitary. So Paul advised Timothy to use a little wine (1 Tim. 5:23). Wine has a warming effect and helps the blood circulation. Paul had the gift of healing, and he healed many sick ones, but he did not heal Timothy's sickness. Timothy himself was also gifted, yet he could not get his own stomach problem healed. God did not give a word. Timothy could not say, "It doesn't matter whether I drink water or wine." No! That would be tempting God. He should not drink the water out of a clay pond. To trust God and to tempt God may appear the same outwardly. The difference is in whether you have God's word or not. From all appearance, to rise up and walk with God's word is the same as to rise up and walk without God's word. But to rise and walk without God's word is to tempt God. If I walk on the premise that God can heal me, I am tempting God. But if I have God's word, I do not need to worry about the law of sanitation. If I do not have God's word, I should not disobey the natural law. Look at the man with the withered hand. Because the Lord had spoken a word to him, he did not wait until the symptom changed to believe that he was healed. He could ignore the symptom. The Lord told him to stretch forth his hand, and he simply stretched forth his hand. The Lord's word is dependable; the symptom is not. The paralytic did not wait until he was stronger before picking up his bed and walking. The Lord told him to pick up his bed and walk; so he picked it up and walked. When you have the Lord's word, you do not need to check your pulse or see if your fever is gone. If one does not have God's word, he needs to abide by the law of sanitation. But if one has God's word, he can afford to be an extremist, fearing nothing.

Watchman Nee then gave this testimony of how he was healed:

I was sick. Then one day God sent His word to heal me. I only knew that I must take care of God's word and not my symptom. If God says I am healed, then His word has stopped the illness. If you continue to look at your sickness, God's word loses its effectiveness. I was neither delighted if my fever went down nor nervous if it went up. My eyes were not on my temperature but on God's word. Whether the temperature was high or low, whether the blood count was more or less, these were not the Lord. Only the Lord is the Lord. Learn to laugh at the temperature. It doesn't matter whether it is high or low. Learn to trust in God's word and not in the symptom. Only God's word is real; the symptom is false. When God says it is over, it is over. If you vomited blood, God must be testing your faith. Learn to trust in God's word and not in the symptom, and the symptom will change. At first, I could not believe that I was healed either, because I did not have God's word. But one day God's word came, yet my symptom was still very serious. But I rose up and said, "Lord, rebuke the symptom if it is false." One or two hours later the illness was gone.

I had a lung problem, a kidney problem, a liver problem, and a heart problem. In 1923 I had peritonitis. I lay in bed for over a month. Breathing was painful to me. My fever was high and I was in much suffering. Brother Miao asked some saints to come and pray for me. When he prayed I felt nothing. However, when a certain sister, Miss Barber, prayed, "Lord, no one in the grave can praise Thee. If our brother dies, he will not be able to praise Thee," my heart was relieved, even though my fever was still high and I was still in acute pain. When the day dawned, I arose and walked to Lo-Hsing Pagoda to edit an issue of The Christian. If you do not have God's word, you must take care of your body. But if you have God's word, you should ignore the symptom. Treat the symptom as a temptation and a lie. Do not stay with the symptom; stay away from it.

Some illnesses are healed immediately; others are not. Once when sick, I asked the Lord to heal me. The Lord said, "The healing will not take place quickly, but My grace is sufficient for you." Then the Lord showed me something. A boat sailing in the middle of a stream was facing a big rock and could not get through. The Lord asked me, "Shall I remove the rock so you can get through, or shall I raise the water level so that you can go over it?" At that moment I was clear concerning the Lord's will, and I said, "Lord, I do not ask to have the problem removed; I ask for an increase of Your grace."

There is no illness in the world that a Christian cannot overcome. If you have the Lord's word, do not care for the symptom. Believe that God is faithful. Be strengthened by contacting God's word, not by seeking removal of the symptom. Neither need you fear that the symptom will be an obstacle. Although the rock is not removed, the water level will be increased, not just some but greatly. This is our way.

In summary, these three things should be noted: 1) If you act without God's word, you tempt God; 2) If you have God's word, do not look at the symptom; 3) If God's word does not heal you immediately, then His grace will be sufficient for you. He never intended that we be sick and lack sufficient grace. Paul had an infirmity, yet he worked more than anyone else. Illness never stops the work. Learn to commit yourself to the true and faithful Lord.

A month before attending the Kuling training, I vomited a mouthful of blood and stayed in a Shanghai hospital. When the vomiting stopped, I went to Kuling. That was why I asked the question concerning the recurrence of a symptom after being healed. After receiving Brother Nee's help and guidance, the Lord showed me that in this universe only two things are real: God and His word. Everything else is false. Since I had God's word, I was healed, and since I was healed, there was no need to care for the symptom. Since God's word had come, any symptom was a lie. I thank God that from June 1948 until this very day in 1991, for forty-three years, I have not vomited blood again, not even a trace. The symptom has completely fled. Praise the Lord!