Recently, I had the urge to get off of social media. When my life seems too chaotic and noisy, this is one of my first go-to’s to declutter my atmosphere. My life became so much more hectic with the noise of the world. For me, peering into the seemingly perfect lives of other people, is counterproductive in helping myself get to a better headspace. Recently, God has been taking me through a season of humbleness. You see, God knows exactly what we need and when. The more He builds us, the more we begin to see why it was necessary in that moment. In order for us to go to the places and do the things that God has called us to, we must be obedient to what He wants to work out of us.
As I currently sit in the car outside of an urgent care waiting on the Covid-19 test results of a loved one, I am truly humbled in this moment. We can be so used to “the norm” and things happening to everyone else….instead of us. We are not used to being inconvenienced. We hardly ever stop to realize that our lives could change in an instant. We are not immune to things going wrong or right in our lives. This is God’s plan, and we must learn to humble ourselves to this fact. We can be here now and gone tomorrow. Have you ever known someone that died unexpectedly? They woke up that morning and did their usual routine not having any idea that that day would be their last. We rarely think of things like this. We don’t pay enough attention to what we choose to do with our lives that actually matters eternally to the lives we touch. Years ago, I went to a funeral of a young high school classmate that was murdered. The speaker spoke of how when there is a tombstone made for someone, there is a date of birth, a dash, and a date of death. He said, “the most important part of those figures is not the date of birth, neither is it the date of death….. it’s the dash in between. The dash signifies the life. It signifies what that person did while they were alive. THIS is what truly matters.” This powerful revelation stuck with me, because it holds so much weight. I often ask myself, what I’m doing with my “dash”, and reflect on what I’ve done that is truly impactful. What actually matters eternally? Whom have I helped? Whom have I harmed? Whom have I not forgiven? Who in my life is holding me back from carrying out the Lords work fully? What has my life meant thus far? I realize that I tend to entertain distractions that hold me back from filling my “dash” with value and substance. What about you? Take a moment and ponder what your “dash” looks like. Think of the people in your life and your relationships you have with them. Is there hurt or resentment you are holding onto that needs to be addressed? What if they died today? Would you live the rest of your life in torment because you never had that heart to heart discussion with them, but instead you hoarded unforgiveness. You fill in the blank, but just know that we all struggle with our “dashes”. My friend, use this time you have in the land of the living to make the changes you need to make in order to right your wrongs and fill your dash with substance.