Timothy’s Stomach

Timothy’s Stomach and Trophimus

Published July 3, 2010 | By Cornel

These two accounts for some reason have left people to believe it is not possible to get every person healed every time because Paul the great apostle left somebody sick and he told his successor Timothy to drink wine for frequent stomach problems. Let’s look firstly at Timothy’s stomach.

1 Tim 5:23 No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities. (NKJV)

I find most often that people with a western culture can’t seem to get this. If you come from Africa or Asia and other impoverished areas, it is easy to understand. For the 3 years my wife and I lived in Asia, we never drank tap water. Why? Because it makes you sick. So instead of having to sit with frequent stomach problems, we bought bottled water. Any doctor will always tell you “Prevention is better than cure.” Why do you think they are pushing healthy eating and living so much? It decreases the risk of contracting illness, it is preventative. In the same way, Paul told Timothy to not just drink the water wherever he went but to instead drink wine. Red wine actually has anti-bacterial properties. Paul wasn’t telling Timothy to take medicine or not to believe for divine healing, he was merely saying prevention is better than cure. “Timothy, every time you go on a mission’s trip you drink the water and your stomach gets upset. Just stop drinking only the water, and have some wine. Then you won’t be sick so often.” It’s not rocket science people. It’s just good common sense.

2 Tim 4:20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick. (NKJV)

Paul left somebody sick. Many people believe because of this that he couldn’t get all healed so therefore we can’t expect to get all healed. Funny. Jesus healed them all and said we are to the same and greater. Did Jesus ever leave anybody sick? Yes, actually He did.

Luke 17:11-15 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. (NIV)

The scriptures says “As they went, they were cleansed.” That means the healing didn’t manifest instantaneously but some time had to have past. So Jesus left them sick. As they went, they got healed. One came back. This pattern stills repeats itself today. You pray for so many people but less than 1 in 10 actually get back to you about what happened. We have had it happen so often when we by chance come across a person we prayed for weeks and even months before where we didn’t see an instant healing and they tell us, “Oh yeah, I meant to call and say I woke up the next morning without any pain.” “I haven’t had any symptoms since then.” If we can not get in touch with somebody with today’s modern telecommunications to find out if they got better, how much more difficult was it for Paul back then? Why do people have a natural tendency to believe the worst scenario? “Not even Jesus could heal all at Nazareth.” I will explain that one next time…