Life to the Full
how to escape impoverishment and live in abundance
When Jenn and I were in Mexico a few years ago, we met a man named Israel. Israel had grown up an orphan on the streets of Tijuana, one of the roughest places in the world to live, let alone be a child on your own. Poverty rates are chronically high, and the location of the city makes it a key battleground for Mexico’s drug cartels. In fact, excluding active war zones, Tijuana has been ranked number one by The Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice as the world’s most violent city.
It was against this backdrop that Israel told me a story.
When Israel was ten, a pastor named Sergio, who ran an orphanage, sought to help, but Israel spurned him. When Sergio tried to tell Israel about God, he didn’t want to hear it. When Sergio offered him a safe place to live — a place where he would cared for, where he would have a bed and food and people to love him — Israel refused. He didn’t trust Sergio; he didn’t trust anyone. The only thing Israel would accept from Sergio was the gift of a Sony Walkman.
After receiving that gift, though, Israel unexpectedly got another.
Crossing a narrow alley one day, he spied something. A shiny cassette tape peeked out from under some refuse. Israel picked up the tape and dusted it off. It was in good condition but carried no label. Curious, he slipped it into his Walkman. Nothing but static. He flipped it over. More static. Then, just as Israel was about to take it out and throw it away, the static subsided — and he heard a man’s voice.
The voice was deep and clear, and it startled him when the man on the tape said Israel’s name — and then said he was precious to God. Hearing those things, the dusty streets faded in Israel’s mind. It was like the man’s voice was all that existed in the world, and he couldn’t stop listening to it. Some of the words made sense; some didn’t. But things would never be the same because, from that moment on, Israel has known in his heart that God was real and what Sergio had told him was true.
Israel returned to Sergio and made the orphanage his home. Sergio became his mentor— his father, really. He learned much about God from Sergio, and eventually, Israel surrendered his life to God. Then, many years later, Sergio helped Israel open his own orphanage. And now Israel does what Sergio did: he rescues children from the streets of Northern Baja, giving them homes and telling them about God.
Whether God was speaking through an audiobook version of the Bible (those were common in the late 1970s and early 1980s) or whether the voice on that tape was something else, I don’t know. All I know is what Israel knows: God spoke love and identity into his beloved son in that grim alley. And because he was listening, Israel found out that God had big and wondrous plans for him — plans he would never have discerned and discovered on his own.
Life moves in cycles. To ebb and flow is the way of all of God’s Creation. Galaxies, planets. Water, oxygen, carbon. Me, you. And right now, I’m in a season where busyness is flowing, and my ability to hear God’s voice has ebbed. My interest in hearing him has ebbed, too, if I’m honest. And that troubles me.
Why? Well, just like Israel, I’ll never become more of the man I’m created to be or live fully the rich and full life I’m meant to live without hearing my Father’s voice … a lot.
Humans create with tools. Hammers and anvils. Lathes and drills. Pens and paper. Processors and pixels. But God creates with his voice. “When God speaks, things happen,” wrote Eugene Peterson. Indeed. God brought all creation into existence with his voice — including us. “And God said, ‘Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:1-3, ESV). “And God said … And God said … And God said … Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Genesis 1:6-27, ESV).
God creates each of us initially (Psalm 139:13), but he also creates us continually. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV). There’s something that happens instantaneously when we turn our lives over to God, as Israel did, but the creation process is lifelong as we learn to trust and surrender and follow him ever more closely. And that process moves forward every time God whispers truth and life and invitation into our hearts. And if we’re willing to listen and trust him, we become ever more of ourselves — the selves God created and hopes we will become — just like Israel has.
Dallas Willard wrote “Learning to Hear God”
Graham Cooke wrote “If You Can’t Hear God, Try This …”
Sample ➼ “Walking with God” by John Eldredge
Sample ➼ “Hearing God” by Dallas Willard (redux)
We updated Rapt’s ‘Best of’ lists this week. Lots of new stuff!
Grace is one of the most important concepts in Christianity, and it’s also one of the most misunderstood, misapplied, and most abused. In his new book, “Run Over By the Grace Train,” Joby Martin offers much clarity on the topic of grace: what it is, how we receive it, and how it changes absolutely everything about us.
Anne Beiler grew a single farmer’s market stand into Auntie Anne’s®, the world’s largest hand-rolled soft pretzel franchise.
Jodie Berndt is the bestselling author of the “Praying the Scriptures” series, which includes volumes for children, teens, adult children, life and marriage.
Mikella Van Dyke is an author and the founder of Chasing Sacred, a ministry that provides resources to help women study the Bible and grow closer to God.
Mesu Andrews is a Christy Award-winning, best-selling author of biblical novels and devotional studies that bring the Bible alive for readers.
Quina Aragon is the author of a children’s book trilogy that poetically retells Scripture’s story through a Trinitarian lens of love.
Mandy Smith is an artist, the author of several books and the pastor of St. Lucia Uniting Church in Brisbane, Australia.
Susan Binkley, the founder and president of Blue Monarch, has worked alongside nearly a thousand women to find sobriety and rehabilitation.
Kimberly Phinney is a poet, writer and professor. She’s been featured in Christianity Today, Ekstasis, and Fathom — and on Good Morning America.
Kendall Vanderslice, a baker and writer, has been named a James Beard National Scholar for her research on food and religion.
P.S. Who should we interview next? Click here to let us know. And what new question would you like us to ask them? Click here to submit your suggestion.
“Hearing God? A daring idea, some would say—presumptuous and even dangerous. But what if we are made for it?” —Dallas Willard
I believe that you are made for it. Do you? Are you willing to try and see for yourself? If so, try Willard’s Two Listening Exercises. They might change your life — for free.
We’re in this together, my friend. Have a great rest of your week.
Editor-in-Chief, Rapt Interviews & WiRE for Men
Co-executive Director, Gather Ministries
I personally know Israel and Sergio and worked with them on house building mission trips for over 20 years. 2 wonderful men of God.