So often our times of waiting seem to be filled with desolation, pain, or uncertainty.  In a liturgical season of the Church called Advent, we are called to a time of preparation.  It is a time to prepare our hearts specifically for the coming of God’s Incarnate Love.  You are called to prepare room in your life for this Incarnate Love, a Man named Jesus. This is a time to love Him above all else, and recognize that He is truly coming back again to judge the living and the dead.

I love the Church’s liturgical seasons for many reasons. One reason in particular is that liturgical seasons remind me that time goes on.  Personally, I have been through a wide variety of seasons. Seasons of hurt and loss, seasons of joy and bliss, seasons that felt as if they lasted a moment, and seasons that felt like lifetimes. Each season served many purposes and has formed me into the woman I am today. Even though Advent is a beautiful season filled with holiday cheer and twinkling lights, it can also be a difficult season.

Last Advent, I was in my worst season of my life thus far.  It was a season of major hurt, heartbreak, and what felt like ruins. It was a season I believed would never end.  Reflecting on last year’s advent made me realize why it was so painful.  I realized that in all my times of waiting, I was actually just worrying.  No matter what I was waiting for; whether for Christmas, God’s healing, for my vocation, or waiting to graduate college… Whatever type of waiting I did was done in anxiety.

God calls us not just to wait aimlessly, but to wait in hope and trust.  Waiting in hope has no room for anxiety. Waiting in trust has no room for fear.  These two virtues are rooted in God’s faithfulness.  A scripture verse that encouraged me to wait in hope states, “For why would I fear the future when I am pursued only by Goodness and Truth Itself?” (Psalm 23:6). Christ is pursuing you. At this very moment He desires to be with you, to love you, and for you to know and love Him intimately. He Himself is complete Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. We are called to give Him control of our seasons and our lives. God is in control.  If we truly let ourselves receive this truth, our waiting will be without worry.  Believing in God’s faithfulness will change our hearts from hearts that are filled with fear, worry, and doubt to hearts that are sturdy, tender, and steadfast.

This Advent, you are called to prepare your heart and to make room for Him.  This Advent, you are called to wait upon the Lord.  But this Advent you are not called to have an anxious and worrying heart.  Rest in the knowledge that He knows- He knows where you are at, what you desire, and how hard this waiting can truly be.

A year has gone by and my dark season has passed.  I stand in glorious light this Advent as I recognize all the grace Jesus has bestowed upon me.  I am not a perfect person now, but I do stand here, miles away from all of the pain and hurt of last year.  I have traveled mountains with Christ beside me. He has brought me to a new season of hope, a new season of trust.  He has worked through my friends and family, people who care for me and support me. He has blessed me with a new job of teaching the faith to children each day, with a genuinely holy and humble man beside me. This new season has been a testament to the faithfulness of God’s patience, goodness, and love. My spiritual director, who has seen me at my worst and loved me the same, said to me, “God always wants to give us more than our little brains and hearts could ever dream up.” Nothing has been more true. God has taken my worrying and waiting and been faithful to His promise of bringing good out of the bad. He has been faithful in making the most ugly, sinful, and destroyed situations into beauty.

I challenge you this Advent, to do the opposite of what I did last year.  I challenge you to wait in hope and in trust. Emmanuel means “God with us”. I challenge you to truly believe that the Incarnate God is with you. He is not far from you.  He did not leave you to face whatever season of life you are in on your own. He will not leave you here forever.  No matter what season you are currently in today at this exact moment, I challenge you to make an act of faith. To simply pray:

“Jesus, You are my hope.”

“Jesus, I trust in You.”

“Jesus, You are faithful to Your promises.”

Wait in confidence. Wait in hope. Wait in trust.  He is faithful through and through.

Briana is a Catholic Doctrine teacher at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel school in Cleveland, OH. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Catechetics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH and is excited to use these skills to bring her students closer to Christ and His Church. “My soul has been refined and I can raise my head like a flower after a storm.” -St. Therese