Recently, I had the urge to get off of social media. My life became so much more hectic with the noise of the world. My life is already hectic as it is and it wasn’t making it any better peering into the seemingly perfect lives of everyone else. Lately, God has been taking me through a season. The word he spoke to me was “humble”. I realized that there are so many aspects in my life that need some “humble” attention. I was fully aware of the reasons he was taking me through this season, but as I went through it, more was revealed of where I was lacking humbleness.
As I currently sit in the car outside 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…. but not us. We are not used to being inconvenienced. We hardly stop to realize that the shoe could easily be on the other foot. We can be here now and gone tomorrow. You ever have someone you knew personally that died unexpectedly at a young age? 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. The thing is, is that we don’t pay enough attention to what we are doing now that will actually matter eternally to us and 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, he said. That stuck with me all these years and it holds so much weight. I often ask myself, what I’m doing with my “dash”…… I often reflect and ask myself what I’ve done that is truly impactful…… What actually matters eternally? Whom have I helped? Whom have I harmed? Who have I not forgiven? Who in my life is holding me back from carrying out the Lords work fully? What has my life truly meant thus far? I start to realize the nonsense I entertain that holds 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 all the people in your life and your relationships with them. Is there hurt or resentment you are holding onto that needs to be addressed? What if they died today and you lived the rest of your life in torment because you never had that heart to heart discussion with them and instead you hoarded unforgiveness. You fill in the blank, but just know we all have struggle in our “dashes” that don’t have to be there any longer. Now is the time while we are still moving and breathing to make the changes we need to in order to right our wrongs and fill our dashes with substance.