Ask Us: Centering in Christ

As part of our ongoing series, this week’s question is about keeping God on the brain. Enjoy!

Dear Bridgette,

I feel like I make good progress in understanding God’s plan for me, but so often get wrapped up in the tasks of the day. How do I best orient myself to remember my true mission in God?

Thanks for taking my question!

Ok…what is one’s true mission in God? To know Him, to love Him and to share that love with others. God call us to seek Him, to know Him and to love Him with all our strength.

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.” (John 17:3)

God want us to put Him first, to center our lives around Him, and to live in right relationship with Him. Then, we are to put people next. Loving our neighbor as ourselves, etc. He wants to love others through us. Within that, each of us are called to a divine purpose and vocation.

“For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

As we are using our God-given passions to fulfill our part in God’s divine plan, chugging along in our daily lives, how do we stay connected? What should we be doing to keep Christ at the center of our days and moments?

I have a lot of little ideas about that, but truly the best place to start is learning from Jesus’s example.

“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went to a desolate area where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

Let’s unpack that. Jesus made time for His prayer life.There are many mentions in the bible of Jesus going off to pray alone. This is how He stayed connected to God the Father, along with what He was being called to say and do. This is how He remained in God’s will. Jesus didn’t respond to each and every single need as it arose, but He did fulfill whatever God’s will was for Him. God was setting the priorities.

Basically I’m thinking that we should commit to some spiritual disciplines so we can align our moments with God’s priorities for us. By disciplines, I mean continual habits that inject faith and connection into your daily distractions. So a daily prayer habit. This is how we seek God. You are probably already doing things like prayer before meals or maybe a prayer before bed with your kids. Amp up your mindfulness during these moments, and expand into prayer first thing in the morning. Even a quick “come Holy Spirit” is all I muster some mornings! But with God, I’m hoping it’s the thought that counts, ha.

Then, beyond forming a daily prayer habit (whatever that may look like to you), make time with scripture a priority. “Give us this day our daily bread”…the daily bread in this case is God’s living word. This is how we know God, by learning His true nature in the scriptures. For some, it’s a bible-based devotional (online or an actual paper book!) or joining a bible study. For others, it’s working one’s way through the psalms. For many Catholics, “our daily bread” is the daily mass readings. Especially if we aren’t able to attend daily mass.

The point is: pick something, and set an alarm on your phone so you can follow through. I have an alarm set at 3pm as a reminder of the Divine Mercy chaplet. Most days, all I can get to is a simple “Jesus I trust in you.” But that alarm is enough to snap me back into the moment and bring my attention towards God. He will make sure that there’s time to spend in His presence through prayer and scripture if you seek Him and ask!

Here are more ideas, as first steps for those who aren’t ready to commit to anything yet. I like small reminders like religious art in my home, or framed bible quotes, or even post-its with a line of scripture on the bathroom mirror. Or on the dash of your car. Wherever you’re looking frequently, let there be a reminder of Christ. I like religious jewelry for this too. I have a certain long necklace that often reminds me of my faith in Jesus when it’s jangling all over the place!

Readers: got some great ideas that work for you? I’d love to hear more!