GOD ANSWERED, When Death Called

On Thursday, the 4th of February 2021, I woke up to the sterile walls of the Emergency Ward at Port Moresby General Hospital. It was a week before my birthday. But that same day could’ve been my deathday. Exactly seven days apart. Coincidence? Maybe. Miracle? Definitely.

The memories from that time still creep into my thoughts. It’s chilling to imagine how close I came to the other side. Death isn’t some mysterious idea anymore. It’s real. Too real. It’s that dark, cold, and unwelcoming place no one wants to visit. I think of the mortuary at Port Moresby General. The corpses lying there in lifeless silence. The frosty air. The stench of finality. Would anyone dare to “try it out”? Of course not. But one day, we all end up there. For me, that day wasn’t it.

That night; Thursday, around 8:00 p.m.; I felt my body shutting down. It started with a numbness that spread like wildfire. My arms, my legs, everything froze. My jaws clenched so tightly I thought they’d snap. My tongue started pulling back into my windpipe, and I couldn’t stop it. I could feel death closing in. It was no longer just a word. It was a presence, hovering so close I could feel it in my bones.

But God; the God of all-knowing, the Lord of all possibilities; He stood in death’s way. He said, “Not today.”

Seven days later, on my birthday, I sat at my desk scrolling through LinkedIn. Notifications flooded my screen. Over forty people had sent me birthday wishes. Happy Birthday, they said. Each message hit differently. All I could think was, If I’d died last week, today wouldn’t be a celebration. It’d be a funeral.

I couldn’t shake the thought. What if I had gone? What would my friends say? My family? My connections? Being young, fresh out of university, and yet to live the life I’d dreamed of, it seemed unfair. But life isn’t fair, and death doesn’t discriminate. Good health, plans, ambitions; it doesn’t matter. Death comes to us all, whether we’re ready or not.

In those moments, as death loomed, everything I once valued seemed meaningless. The things I worked so hard for, the dreams I held onto; none of it mattered. It was humbling. It was terrifying. And it was a wake-up call.

Today, I’m thankful. Thankful that I didn’t die. Thankful for the lesson I learned in the most painful way. Having a near-death experience changed me. It gave me a new perspective. A new hope. A renewed strength to live differently.

God didn’t want me to be the same person turning another year older. He wanted me to be someone changed, someone who’d seen a glimpse of death and learned to lean on Him completely. Yes, aging means we’re one year closer to the end. But it also means one more year to live with purpose.

I’m grateful to celebrate another birthday. But what I’m most grateful for is this: TO STILL HAVE THE LORD OF HOSTS AS MY GOD!