Today there are many of you who are in a waiting period regarding some
issue in your life, much like Joseph as he sat in prison or Paul as he
left his friend Trophimus sick. Overcoming faith in the life of the
believer compels us to believe and praise God even in the midst of the
wait and mystery.
“Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick” (2 Timothy 4:20).
When things have not turned out the way that you had planned
But God won’t forget you, His promises are true
Tears are a language God understands.
Yesterday in our Sunday School class we discussed the many ways the Lord
works in our lives using Joseph (from Genesis) as an example. Joseph
certainly had his setbacks and mystery times which we may tend to
overlook since Bible students already know the “rest of the story”. During discussion a class student, Mike
Book, pointed out that our faith must continue to grow
and praise fill our lives even when we are in a mystery period
such as praying for a loved one who has an illness and waiting for the
outcome.*¹
In our rather obscure daily text Paul is
here writing what most Bible students consider his last letter.
He was soon to meet His Maker. He had had a fruitful ministry and he
could honestly say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Reading about his
life we see that God had often used him in miraculous ways through
healings, deliverances, and other extraordinary circumstances. (e.g. Acts 28:1-10)
Today’s verse is so straightforward and bluntly honest. Trophimus was a
ministry associate of Paul who had traveled with him. He is first
referenced during the third missionary journey. From two passages we can
glean that he was an Ephesian from Asia (Acts 20:4, 21:29).
Yet here Paul candidly states “Trophimus have I left at Miletum
sick”. In reading a verse like this we must avoid two extremes:
1) Ignoring it or seeing it as having no significance whatsoever. Earlier in 2
Timothy Paul had written that, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (v.16). This portion, in the providence of God, is part of the inspired Scriptures and is useful.
2) There are those who make a doctrinal
mountain out of this verse. Some extreme dispensationalists*² assert
this tiny verse “proves” that God had stopped healing late in the
apostolic period and Paul was no longer used in healing, thus he left
Trophimus sick.
Let us seek to glean several truths out of this short passage:
1) This verse indicates Paul’s honesty and this strengthens his
credibility elsewhere. Here, in what turned out to be his final chapter
he candidly writes something that must have been a disappointment to
him for surely he had prayed for Trophimus to be healed before he left.
Let’s speak the truth today. Let’s especially be
on our guard against forms of lying that are so frequent in our age,
particularly exaggerations and misrepresentations. (It’s absolutely
nauseating to see this in the political world, and even less forgiving toward those in ministry.) About twenty years ago
I wrote an article regarding the tendency by some in
ministry to exaggerate and misrepresent attendance figures as well as
bogus claims of the miraculous. Someone, I can’t recall whom, wrote in
response:
“This is a disturbing practice, but my guess is that a lot of preachers
fall into the habit of embellishment as a general way of speaking, and
attendance figures are only one manifestation of that. The interesting
part about this is that I doubt most
preachers would classify their embellishments as lies. The statements
are not intentional deceptions. However, when one gets into the habit
of embellishing the truth, then the line between truth and falsehood
becomes stretched to the point that it is ‘no big deal’ to take the
next step and turn embellishments into outright lies (a big danger). My
feeling about all of the above is; God doesn’t need our
embellishments when we talk about Him! His attributes, His creation,
His every-day blessings are praiseworthy enough.” Absolutely,
Amen. Let’s worship this great God today and let’s tell the truth!
2) The candor of this verse can be an encouragement to us as we face
life’s disappointments. I don’t think Paul had stopped praying for
people or ceased believing that he served a miracle-working God. There
were mysteries in God’s dealings in the Bible period just as there are
now. Things didn’t always work out the way they surely would have
desired, just as we also experience today. Just a few examples follow:
- Why
was Stephen stoned just as he began his
ministry and, several chapters later, James beheaded (Acts 7,12)? Of
course God was able to prevent this from happening but He didn’t. These
are the first Christian martyrs mentioned in the Bible, but millions
have suffered
or been martyred for their faith since then. We hear of it happening
right now on a daily basis.
- Why did Paul deal with a “thorn in the flesh”, some type of persistent affliction that he had prayed might be removed? (See 2 Corinthians 12). Instead of removing the affliction, God gave him assurance that “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Today there are many of you who are in a waiting period regarding some
issue in your life, much like Joseph as he sat in prison or Paul as he
left his friend Trophimus sick. Overcoming faith in the life of the
believer compels us to believe and praise God even in the midst of the wait and mystery.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
