Draw Close to the Lord

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

St. Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” To draw near to the Lord is the desire of every soul. In many ways, the soul must make the first move. Be that move a Mary sized Fiat or simply falling to one’s knees, the soul must move.

One must recognize the desire of the soul and react accordingly. The body must let go of excuses, distractions and attachments.

For many years after coming back to my faith, I now recognize I was a hollow shell of a Catholic man. I did a lot of things but, the leap of commitment was always a stretch away. I would lead our CMF group and hear men talk of their spiritual victories and prayer lives, being filled with a desire to be that way. Then, I would go home and complain to myself that I didn’t have time to pray while making time for a hockey or football game. I would have a mountaintop experience at an Emmaus retreat. Serving and leading others to live the retreat after the retreat ended. Then, allow myself within days to go back into the world.

For me, my soul yearned for more, but the rest of me didn’t commit. I was torn, the heart, mind, body and soul were not seeking the same desire. My heart made the first move of desire. God then set the stage for me to make the commitment move. He put into my wife’s and my hearts to make the move to sell our beautiful home to start preparations for the RV Road of Faith.

Why was this moment so big? Because it gave me the opportunity to make the commitment leap. The first big move was to walk away from my Saturday college and Sunday NFL addiction. God made that easy by ‘souring the milk’ as Patrick Campbell says. All the kneeling and dishonoring and greed of the NFL sickened me as a veteran. The NFL made it easy.

Next came my decision to not have cable tv in our new apartment. This gave me back hours everyday that I could give to God.

We were away from our parish and retreat community. All the commitments I had at that church were given to others. Father Levi prayed over us and prophesied that God wanted to remove everything that it would be only Himself, Connie and I. He centered everything upon tightening this bond.

Then, God pressed for more. He put upon my heart to start ‘The Road of Faith’ and share my faith journey. I didn’t know how often I would publish a post or about what. But, for over 1,000 straight days, God has never left me lacking of thoughts to share for a post. He has reinforced His care and guidance by having many touch a soul subscribed to The Road of Faith in a specific moment. I spend immensely more time in the Bible, prayer and holy readings. We do watch movies but they are all faith filled and faith building in nature. Time spent more and more on God alone.

I made the first moves to desire more of God. Then, no doubt in my heart, God drew me close to Himself by removing the external distractions and excuses. He took away everything that kept me from drawing close to Him. Well, ‘everything’ is still a work in progress.

What in your life keeps you from committing more of your life to God? Make the first move and ask God to take away the distractions and excuses in your life. Have more of God until there is nothing left but God and you. The more you draw closer to God, the more He will draw you closer to Him. There is no place better to be…

“When the Lord himself wants to be close to a soul and to lead it, He will remove everything that is external.” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 149