2 Corinthians 1:9
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
God brings everyone into trying positions and extreme affliction to test whether they will trust in a power outside and above themselves rather than in themselves, that they should learn to trust not in themselves but in God who raises the dead. Because God does not see as man sees, He breaks up human connections and changes the order that man has mapped out as perfect in his own estimation. What a person thinks is for his spiritual and temporal interests may be altogether opposed to the experience he must have in order to be a follower of Christ, and his idea of his own value may be far out of the way.
The verse belongs to a lesson in the whole first chapter for all believers, especially ministers who open the Word to others. It calls ministers to stand in a high and holy position by self-denial, by simple food that the stomach can digest without clouding the brain, and by keeping the body in the best condition of health, so they can recommend the truth, come to assemblies prepared, judge righteously, and speak the words of God with clear discernment under the influence of His Spirit. Practical godliness advances the work more than preaching with words alone, for in every assembly Christ is present and angels ascend and descend the heavenly ladder, making a living connection between earth and heaven with God's glory shining on the congregation, so God's mouthpieces must avoid indigestion and hasty speech in a wrong light and carefully guard their speech.
Trust in God in such distress is shown when affliction brought a family to want and to prayer through which God restored the husband's health.