How do those of us who desire to know and love God find Him?

Moses, the leader of the Israelites in their exodus from Egyptian slavery and oppression and the faithful believer to whom God revealed His Ten Commandments, confirms that anyone who sincerely desires to know God can find Him, even if we have gone astray:

“The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him, if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey Him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which He confirmed to them by oath.” Deuteronomy 4: 27-31

I relish these ancient words from Moses. Although we may not worship stone or wood idols today, all of us, at one time or another, have likely allowed things or people in our lives to become more important than our relationships with God. And yet even when this happens, Moses confirms that God is still willing to enter into — or re-enter — relationship with us. Why? Because His love and mercy for us is boundless.

So many of us who search for God expect that the journey to know Him will be arduous. Some of us travel to far distant lands, in search of God. Others spend years immersed in formal study. And still others participate in various bible studies or religious retreats. We join churches and participate in weekly worship. There is so much goodness in all of these things – and certainly, these activities can enable us to build relationships with other followers who seek to know God and to live holy lives. So these are all good things!

But we do not need to travel far or study long to find God. We do not need to wait for Sunday Mass to speak with God. We simply need to call for Him, from our hearts, and then await His reply. God is so near to each one of us. He wants to be a part of all of our days. He loves us and wants us to know His goodness. This is hard for us to understand.

Centuries after Moses lived, St. Paul, one of Christ’s earliest followers and missionaries, confirmed that God is, indeed, very near to all of us:

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17: 24-27

St. Paul is plainly saying to us – Do you want to know Jesus? He has been waiting for you! Go to Him, right where you are, through your heart. Believe in Him. Listen for Him. Depend on Him. Trust what God places on your heart.

In the early 1930s, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska captured these words from Jesus in her diary, as a young nun of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland:

“’I will tell you most when you converse with Me in the depths of your heart. Here, no one can disturb My actions. Here, I rest as in a garden enclosed.1’”

If you want to know God, find a quiet spot and listen for what He places on your heart.

God is waiting for you to seek Him.

Turn to Him each day, multiple times a day.

Never doubt how much God wants to be a part of your life.

“You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29: 13

1Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul (Massachusetts: Marian Press, 2020), Verse 581, pg. 245.