Are You Running From Your Destiny?

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For a wedding anniversary years ago, my wife and I were given tickets to the Broadway show The Lion King. Weary from a long and intense week — and frankly also feeling a little bit bored, I dozed off and on through the first few scenes. Then one scene, rife with powerful significance, grabbed and held my attention for the rest of the musical.

The scene depicts Simba, years after running away from his home in Pride Lands after his father’s death, being compelled to return to Pride Lands — the place of his destiny — to overthrow his uncle Scar, a ruthless dictator, reclaim his royal position as king, and bring healing and restoration. While his lack of confidence and hesitation are evident, Simba is encouraged by a sage named Rafiki, who claims Mufasa — Simba’s father — is still “alive” and demands Simba to look inside himself and recognize his father’s presence.

“I know your father,” says Rafiki.

“My father is dead,” answers Simba.

“Nope! He’s alive. I’ll show him to you.” Rafiki leads Simba to a pool of clear water. “Look down there.”

First Simba sees his own reflection, then the face of his father. “You see, he lives in you!” says Rafiki.

Simba hears a familiar voice call his name. He looks up. His father’s ghostlike image appears among the stars. 

“Look inside yourself,” says the apparition. “You must take your place in the Circle of Life. Remember who you are…”

The vision fades.

I acknowledge that this is a fictitious, humanistic story famous for entertaining children with its animal characters and age-old plot. Yet this one scene captivated my mind with its analogy to potent spiritual truths:

Each and every one of us desperately needs to know who we are through our Father, and we must accept our destined place in this world to create better, best, and preferred futures.

Our version of the “Circle of Life” is finding our place of possibility and accountability in this world. If we do not play the roles God-designed for us during our time on earth, a multitude of futures will never happen as a direct result.

Every human being is born potent with the potential to impact this world, regardless of their situation or how helpless a person may feel. How do I know this? Because we were created in the “image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). When you look in the mirror, you may see something different: a loser, a victim, or someone alienated from their destiny.

As people of faith, we are aware of the fact that this God-image was marred and our world terribly wounded when the first human beings chose to live their way instead of God’s way, but when we look into a mirror, as children of God, we should see the image of our Father reflected.

Though we are fallen, we still bear a unique responsibility of being created in His image — a responsibility no other creation holds.

Though we acknowledge the reality that we are born with potential to do evil (Ps. 51:5), we must focus on the truth that we are also created with tremendous potential to do good.

When we believe in Jesus, we enter another dimension of purpose, privilege, and power: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

Through this spiritual birth, we are relationally reconnected to God our Father, and His image in us is reconstructed. We are partakers of a new, divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). We are still capable of doing wrong, but our new instinct is to do good: “Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator” (Col. 3:10).

Similar to Simba’s fictional responsibility to assume his position as rightful king, our mandate is to assume our positions in this world, bearing God’s image and using our God-given authority to bring help and hope into a broken world. We are called to “reign in life” (Rom. 5:17).

Do you know who you are? Are you ruling in life? Or do you live as if you’re without authority or capacity to bring new preferred futures to exist, powerless to make a difference?

Look in the mirror! What do you see? Excuses? Limitations? A damaged past? Lack of talents? What you should see is the image of your heavenly Father (Gen. 1:26-27). The One who has crowned you with the authority to rule in this life. The One who is calling you to take your necessary place. You must not run from your destiny.