Timothy, who eventually took the place of the great Apostle Paul, was not only young, but prone to illness. He lived continually with the problem of physical infirmity. We know this because Paul said to him in 1 Timothy 5:23, “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.”
You, too, may be living with physical deficiencies. Are you called to do something huge and significant but feel like saying, “My God, I am not able to handle it; I am tired and sick”? Well, Timothy was like that, and Paul encouraged him to press on to do the job God called him to do despite his illnesses.
Add to his young age and constant illnesses, Timothy was also timid and shy, an introvert. Many verses reveal that even after more than 15 years of training, Paul still had to tell him, “Get up! Don’t be shy! Don’t be timid! Don’t be afraid.”
Timothy was not, by makeup and temperament, a natural leader. If you had called him to lead, he would have said, “Please, not me. Let someone else do it. I will follow.” He didn’t want to be in the limelight.
How different from so many today! People murmur and grumble and fight for position, saying,
- “I’ve been in the ministry for 10 years and I’m not yet promoted!”
- “I’m better able to teach than this fellow.”
- “Why has he been made a leader and I haven’t?”
- “Look at her! She’s teaching, but I have a better degree!”
We live with all kinds of such imaginations about ourselves. May we learn from Timothy!
The Courage of the Called
God had called Timothy, and he must now step out in faith and be bold in the work of the Lord.
It may sound as if the odds are stacked against Timothy, but please see how his age, weakness and even his personality did not qualify or disqualify him for being a servant of God.
The one determining and sustaining factor was the fact that he had been called by God for the work of the ministry. It was this that qualified him before God and man, and the reason Paul entrusted the church at Ephesus to him during his first arrest.
Dr. KP Yohannan, founder and director of Gospel for Asia, has written more than 200 books, including Revolution in World Missions, an international bestseller with more than 4 million copies in print. His Road to Reality radio program airs on more than 200 outlets worldwide. He and his wife, Gisela, have two grown children, Daniel and Sarah, who both serve the Lord with their families.
Gospel for Asia has been serving the “least of these” in Asia since its beginning in 1979, often in places where no one else is serving. GFA supports national workers who are serving as the hands and feet of Christ by ministering to people’s needs so they can understand the love of God for them for the first time. GFA is engaged in dozens of projects, such as caring for poor children, slum dwellers and widows and orphans; providing clean water by funding wells; supporting medical missions; and meeting the needs of those in leprosy colonies. Through GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program, tens of thousands of children are being rescued from the generational curses of poverty and hopelessness.
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