HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2016 / SUMMER / THE LIFE EXAMINED WITH CAROLYN MACOMBER
This morning I woke up, and all I wanted to do was worship. All I wanted was to be close to the One who loved me enough to give His life as a ransom for me. My heart yearns for Him as a running deer yearns for water. All I need is Him.
My heart has felt ripped and stripped of all protection. I’ve watched in the last few weeks as a woman live-streamed the death of her boyfriend; I saw a live news camera pan around a running crowd and rest on a fallen police officer lying motionless, face-down on the cement, before they cut the live feed. I learned of a mass shooting in a club and watched people holding each other up as they tried to escape the carnage.
Meanwhile, closer to home, I heard of a felon who wrested a gun out of the hands of a bailiff and two died in a court of law. I watched people running for their lives to escape being mowed down by a two-ton truck whose driver’s sole purpose was to kill as many as possible. I’ve heard and seen that some on our planet rejoice over the death of innocents. People are doing what is right in their own eyes.
Heart aches
My heart aches for a world that seems to be spinning out of control, where chaos is the norm, and I need to worship. My spirit needs to be close to the One who calls Himself the Prince of Peace, Almighty God, The Good Shepherd, Wonderful, Counselor, and King. My heart grieves over the lawlessness of this planet, for a world that rejects the One who came to rescue it. My eyes are wet with conviction of the sin that pervades my planet—the destructive self-centeredness and selfishness that is the natural inheritance of us all.
As I read this week from the words that give me hope, I was struck with the reality that God’s prophets foretold that peace would be taken from this world. In fact, that removal of peace is a pre-cursor to the events that will bring the One who will eventually rule the nations with an iron scepter (Rev. 12:5; 19:15). My heart yearns for the Judge who will judge in righteousness and truth.
I was struck by the words I read just yesterday in Scripture: “Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other” (Rev. 6:4, NIV). I paused and wrote in the margin the date and all the death scenes I had watched parading across the screen of my television during the preceding days.
In the midst of my grief, confusion, and heart ache, I can only turn to the One who is my hope and my salvation. I can turn only to Him for the comfort and peace my soul yearns for. It is in Christ that I have what I need. It is in Jesus that I find the solace for my aching soul. It is the Son of God who won the victory over sin and death to whom I turn.
Christ is the firm foundation
All I want to do is worship and be in His presence, soaking in His goodness, justice, and love. Christ is the firm foundation to whom I can run when chaos breaks out and my world is turned upside down.
Where do you turn? What do you yearn for? What will you do?
There is only one answer for us all. Jesus said this in Matthew 11:25-30:
“I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in your sight.”All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt. 11:28-30). †
Copyright 2016 Life Assurance Ministries, Inc., Camp Verde, Arizona, USA. All rights reserved. Revised August 23, 2016. Contact email: proclamation@gmail.com
S U M M E R • 2 0 1 6
VOLUME 17, ISSUE 2
Carolyn Macomber was a doctoral student at Andrews University when she discovered inconsistencies between Adventism and the Bible. She withdrew her membership from the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2009. She is a marriage and family counselor and is the contact person for former Adventists at The Chapel Evangelical Free Church in St. Joseph, Michigan.
