Death Could Not Keep Me Down

One of my earliest memories is of waking up in the darkest of nights, alone, lying on top of a traditional Korean burial mound on a hill out in the country. I had passed out from all the alcohol I had been forced to drink. I was only six years old.

But even before this incident, even from the time I was in my mother's womb, death was waiting for me. Sometime early in her pregnancy, the doctors found a tumor growing inside her uterus. They said it needed to be removed, which meant that she would most likely lose the baby. Although she was pressured to give up the baby, she still decided to have me. And miraculously, the tumor stopped growing and turned out to be benign. When I was born, I weighed eleven pounds. Life was surging through my body; death could not keep me down. God was with me.

God is faithful in our lives; the first imprint in our souls must be this truth. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful (2 Tim 2:13). We are uniquely created; there will never be another like us in all of eternity. We are it, and God loves us with all His being; He has invested in us purpose and destiny.

The enemy brings death—killing, stealing, and destroying—but God brings life, and life in abundance. Death is all around us as we live in this sinful, polluted world of disease, hate, envy, violence, and greed. But we are the apple of His eye as it states in Psalm 17:8, "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." The Hebrew word for apple can be translated as "pupil of the eye." The pupil is the mechanism through which one focuses to see clearly. God is focused and is focusing on your life.

God is not some factory making cheap products on an assembly line. We are not uniform; we are wonderfully made with great care. God spoke the universe into existence, but He made humanity. The imagery of God stooping down to form us with His own hands is profound. He could have simply spoken us into existence—like everything else. But us He formed. He took time. Every detail shaped by the hands of a Master Craftsman, nothing ever replicated.

There will never be anyone like us for all of eternity.

A person without a sense of destiny is aimless in their life and ripe for compromise.

Abraham's father settled in Haran, a place of familiarity and comfort, because he did not feel that sense of destiny as Abraham did. Abraham had a call, a destiny, a grand purpose that was far beyond him. He didn't know exactly what it would be, or how it would unfold. Nonetheless, it gave him direction.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law—Prov 29:18

Lack of God-given prophetic vision is the root of undisciplined lives. People often mistake liberty for freedom in God. Liberty is the choice to do what we want to do. Freedom is rooted in our desire to obey the Father—trusting that His vision for our lives is far better than anything we could imagine, and it calls for our full surrender.

A wild horse has liberty, but it has no idea that it is meant to compete for the Triple Crown.

It is not free to fulfill its God-given purpose; its own liberty becomes the prison that keeps it from its destiny. Only people who know they are meant for something greater discipline themselves and prepare accordingly. They dream of a great future that is yet to be revealed.

Most people live from past to present to future. Their present reality is shaped by their negative experiences from the past, and consequently they project their future accordingly. However, a believer lives from the future to the present, and even their past is viewed through the lens of a God-given future. The vision God has for their life becomes more real than their past and present realities.

A caterpillar is not destined for life in the mud and dirt.

Its life is radically transformed once it hits the tree—tree of life—and starts climbing, unaware of what is in store, but as it climbs, it crawls on a branch; it goes out on the limb, the limb of faith, and as soon as it gets a vision of reality from a higher plane, it forms its chrysalis. It dies to itself to be transformed into a butterfly. The very thing it was destined to become.

God always has the final word; the cross is a sign that points us to this truth. Never be worried when death clouds surround you. He loves and therefore He protects and preserves. God is focused and is focusing on your life. You are the apple of His eye; He watches over you, though temporary crucifixion and hardships may seem unbearable. Your story is never finished until God has the final word. Don't leave in the middle of your story. Don't stop halfway. Let the Author finish what He started.

"Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"—1 Cor 15:54-55

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Excerpted from my book, CHRYSALIS. If this story spoke to you, the full chapter—and the rest of the journey—is waiting for you there