Canadian Pacific District

Is Jesus Enough For AFIB?

An article by District Superintendent, David Hearn

These past several months have been an interesting journey for me personally.  I have always had great health and more energy than I know what to do with.  But in June I had an episode of A-fib which really surprised me.  A-fib is an irregular heart rhythm (arrhythmia) of contraction of the atria (upper heart chambers).  It was strange to be resting in a hospital bed completely calm and watch a monitor that says your heart is beating at 160 beats per minute.  With the help of some medication my heart regained a normal sinus rhythm and I was out of the hospital within three hours.  The rest of the summer and the fall were quite uneventful but following my vacation in December I had another A-fib episode followed by two more later in the month.  I have taken several tests to try and narrow down the cause and at this point the main culprit seems to be low potassium. Potassium regulates heart rhythm and needs to remain between 3.5 and 5.  My potassium level has been as low as 2.8.  So the journey of discovery continues on the medical front.  However, there is a parallel journey going on within my spirit.  Health issues force a crisis of faith and after the last few episodes in December I have been driven into some deep conversations with God.

Last night I was urged in my spirit to read about the heart issues and ultimate healing of A.B. Simpson.  At the age of forty-six, Dr. A.B. Simpson was told he was dying of a heart condition and had only six months to live.  He took a leave of absence from his church and went to his farm where he could spend time studying the Word of God.  At the end of two weeks he wrote, "After searching the Word of God for two weeks, I am convinced the Bible teaches us that divine healing is for us today.  And, I this day accept Jesus Christ as my healer and declare that I am now healed from heart trouble and I'm well.  I promise God to use this new-found strength and life and energy entirely for His purpose and to further the gospel.  I promise God I'll share this truth of healing with others and will help them."

Simpson went to a luncheon where he was the speaker.  All that came to him to speak was one word 'himself' in Matthew 8:17.  So he opened his Bible, read the verse and told the audience he wanted to focus his attention on that word.  Then he gave his testimony about how he had been searching the Bible and had come to the conclusion that Jesus still heals today.

After the luncheon he was invited to go mountain climbing by the men to whom he had spoken.  His first reaction was that he couldn't because of his heart condition.  Then he remembered he had declared his healing, so he accepted their invitation and went.  Up to this point he had not really felt his healing but had just declared it.  He battled all the way up the mountain.  Every time he got his mind off the scripture, he began to feel pain.  But he overcame these feelings of doubt, and as he claimed his healing again all the symptoms would go away.  He fought this battle all the way to the top of the mountain, but he walked away victorious.  He went on to lead an active, energetic life in God's service with no more symptoms whatsoever.

After reading this story I was filled with a fresh sense of optimism and hope.  I recognize that God works uniquely with each of us and my journey is in God's sovereign care so I am not planning to climb any mountains just yet.  However, the issue for me is one of faith.  Do I really believe in the supernatural power of God to provide whatever I need in this season of my life?  This question led me to explore a sermon that Simpson preached simply titled "Himself."  In that sermon Simpson declared;

"I had always worked hard, and from the age of fourteen I studied and labored and spared no strength.  I took charge of a large congregation at the age of twenty-one; I broke down utterly half a dozen times and at my last constitution was worn out.  Many times I feared I should drop dead in my pulpit.  I could not ascend any height without a sense of suffocation, because of a broken-down heart and exhausted nervous system.  I heard of the Lord's healing, but I struggled against it.  I was afraid of it.  I had been taught in theological seminaries that the age of the supernatural was past, and I could not go back from my early training.  My head was in my way, but at last when I was brought to attend 'the funeral of my dogmatics', I heard the Lord whisper to me the little secret, 'Christ in you'; and from that hour I received Him for my body as I had done for my soul."

The thought gripped me as I read Simpson's words, "Christ is in me and He is enough!"  My prayer was to be for more than healing... it was to be for more of Christ.  What I needed was a greater measure of His life invading my soul.  Simpson went on to suggest that, "All the fullness of the Godhead and the fullness of a perfect manhood has been embodied in Christ, and He stands now as the summing-up of all that man needs.  His spirit is all that your spirit needs, and He just gives us Himself.  His body possesses all that your body needs.  He has a heart beating with the strength that your heart needs...your heart has a right to draw from His heart all that it needs."

I was captivated by a new realization.  So I chose to step out in faith and open my heart, with all of its fears and uncertainties, to take Him in His fullness for my every need and to allow His life to flood into my life with new intensity.  A profound calm swept over my soul and a new energy began to emerge.  I do not know what tomorrow holds but each morning as I awake I put my hand over my heart and declare, "Christ is in me and He is enough!"

Simpson concluded his sermon with these words, "It was more than simple healing.  He so gave me Himself that I lost the painful consciousness of physical organs.  That is the best of the health He gives.  I thank the Lord that He keeps me from all morbid, physical consciousness and a body that is the object of anxious care, and gives a simple life that is a delight and a service for the Master, that is a rest and joy."  That is the place I resting today.  I invite you in whatever challenge you face to embrace a deeper fullness of Christ in your life.  "Christ is in you... and He is more than enough!"