By Andrea Goebel
God’s Way
It was the first week of Advent, and already, the plans I had made for our family were faltering.
The peaceful, expectant feeling I hoped would be the hallmark of the season was absent from my heart.
Instead, my heart was filled with frustration, anxiety and weariness. Perhaps you can relate.
Every year, I tell myself that this Advent will be different. This year began in the same manner, but God nudged me in a different direction. He suggested that instead of overwhelming myself with unrealistic expectations, I should focus on doing less. So, I began Advent with that intention.
However, when I began focusing on the things I hadn’t done —– like buying presents for our children — my peace dissipated. Negative thoughts spun around my head, and all I could fixate on was the lack of time I had to do everything I wanted. When I told myself I didn’t have time to read a daily entry in an Advent devotional, I knew my heart was not where God wanted it to be.
One day shortly thereafter, I said yes to God’s invitation to spend time with him in adoration, and as I did so, the hardness in my heart crumbled. As I poured out my heart to him, I realized I had been resisting his call recently. In this season, God has been calling me to attend Mass and Adoration more often.
Lately, I have felt hard of heart. Why do I need to go to the Adoration chapel to pray? Why can’t I pray in church or at home? The truth is — I can — but that’s not what God is calling me to do right now.
The same hardness of heart has been true of my prayer life as well. I like to pray a daily rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and a short Seven Sorrows of Mary rosary as part of my prayer routine. They keep my mind locked on God, prepare my heart for the day and prevent wayward thoughts from taking over my mind.
Again, lately, I have resisted this prayer routine, and instead of following it, I have fixated on negative thoughts that aren’t productive or healthy.
When I said yes to God’s call to attend Adoration that day, I realized how reticent I had been to answer him with a yes lately. And it seemed more than just coincidence that because my relationship with God had been off track, my thoughts and actions had been off track as well.
In that moment, I realized another truth: if my heart is not focused on my relationship with my heavenly father and his will for me, no amount of Advent activities will prepare my heart for Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
1 Corinthians Chapter 13 reminds us of this fact: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Previously, when I read this chapter, I focused on the verses that describe the attributes of love.
However, these first few verses are just as vital for our heart health. We must do all we can with love. If we live without love in our hearts, then we miss the point of this life God has given us.
God is pure love. He created us out of love, and he infused us with his love. Our purpose is to seek communion with him and share his love with each other.
So, this Advent, as we prepare our hearts for Jesus, let us keep love at the center.
Let us remember that the greatest miracle of all came from God’s love, and let us remember God’s daily blessings that truly make this a season to celebrate.
Andrea Goebel, her husband and three children live in Mt. Vernon. They are members of St. Philip Parish in Posey County.