Hope for Life Blog

If you Google “Hand of God” the initial results are probably not what you might have expected. In 1986, Diego Maradona, arguably the greatest soccer player ever in the world, scored one of soccer history’s most controversial goals. Diego was playing for his home country, Argentina, and his goal came against international rivals, England, during the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Diego leapt toward the ball that an England defender failed to clear and discretely punched the ball into the back of the net with his hand (the use of hands is taboo in soccer). A difficult angle for the referees prevented them from dismissing the goal, so instead it was awarded. Argentina went on to become champions in the world’s most prestigious soccer tournament. The goal was soon nicknamed the Hand of God after Diego admitted in an interview that he had scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

Accrediting the goal to God was a lighthearted attempt to deflect the outraged objectors’ cries for a more just ruling. Diego’s subtle admission of his unconventional score reminds me that God’s hand is at work in each of our lives.

Jesus told the religious leaders of his day, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17, NIV).

“What is He working so hard at?” He’s bringing the whole world to Him through Jesus. He aches for us all to accept Jesus as lord of our lives and to follow Jesus’ way of living. Nonstop, God is implementing his plan to reconcile us to him through Jesus. It is through Jesus that we are made righteous before God. His perfect life gives us that are imperfect precious hope.

Have you recognized that God is working to bring you to Him?

~Wesley Shutt

Do you ever feel out of place? Like you just don’t belong? Maybe when you’re visiting with a group of acquaintances, and you just can’t seem to relate to them. Or in the midst of an evening out with some of your best friends, and you just can’t help but wonder if there’s something more. You might have even felt it in the company of your own family during a holiday gathering.

Have you been there? You don’t have to be a black sheep to feel this way. In fact, I imagine most sheep, despite their color, feel this way from time to time. A good deal of this experience can be accredited to the fact that we simply aren’t at home in this world. We just don’t belong.

Peter, a follower of Jesus Christ, wrote “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).

You see, followers of Christ are anticipating something more, something wonderful. We’re aching for a better life! We press on in this world even though we feel out of place. We have every thing to live for because Jesus gives us hope, life in him and a future in heaven!

Jesus has changed my life, and I have found community with others who are living changed lives with hope and purpose.

~Wesley Shutt

When I was a teenager some friends and I would frequently get together on a weekend night to go camping. My grandparents have some property not far from my hometown that my family calls “The Farm”. I can recall one particular camping trip to The Farm when I made a big mistake. My friends and I gathered up some wood to keep the fire lit and for cooking breakfast the next morning. I borrowed my grandfather’s hatchet to help out with breaking up some of the fallen tree limbs. Unintentionally I ended up breaking the hatchet’s handle as well.

In a moment of panic I made a poor decision to cover-up the incident by tossing the handle into the hot fire and the hatchet head in the nearby pond. It wasn’t long after that my grandfather approached me wondering what had happened to the hatchet he let me borrow. I was caught. I mustered up the courage to confess what I had done. I felt awful for letting him down.

I told him I wanted to replace the hatchet with a new one. It was the least I could do. That’s when he shared with me that the hatchet was priceless. It had been passed down to him from his grandfather many years ago. I was willing to do anything to rectify my relationship with him but nothing could replace what I had taken. I was heartbroken.

Thankfully I have a merciful grandfather, he forgave me for what I had done and continued loving me. He simply asked that I learn a lesson in honesty and responsibility.

Paul, a follower of Jesus, wrote, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). In other words, since we recognize that God has shown us mercy through the death of his son, Jesus, let’s offer our lives to him.

There’s no way I can replace my grandfather’s hatchet. It’s even more impossible to repay my debt to God for his deep mercy in my life. All he asks for is my heart and a committed life lived for him. That’s doable!

How about you? Have you accepted God’s mercy in your life? What does God’s mercy mean to you?

~Wesley Shutt

Last Christmas my wife and I were given a kite. It’s one of those really large ones that requires two handles and gives you a pretty good work out. You might have seen them flown on the beach before. Where we live there is always plenty of wind so a kite was a great present.

It’s nearly impossible to fly this kind of kite alone. Without having someone to help you set it up, get it started, and put it away, it’s more than you bargained for. I learned this the hard way.

I set out to fly our new kite on my own one windy Saturday morning. I pulled it out of the bag that we store it in and began to unwind the spools of thin rope. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was going to be very challenging. The wind was whipping the kite around even before I could finish setting up.

So I decided to stand it up against a large light post until I could get the rope taut and the kite ready for flight. Before I knew it, the kite was tangled around the light post and my plan was falling apart. As I began to untangle the rope the wind picked up even more violently and the tangled knots began to tighten. It was then that I realized that doing this alone was incredibly foolish. I wished I had been wise enough to bring someone with me. The situation was becoming more and more hopeless.

I’ve tried flying solo in my spiritual life as well. It turned out to be an even more foolish endeavor than my kite flying experience. God has given each of us two very special gifts, Jesus and his church, so that we never have to be alone. It is good for us to be part of a community of fellow believers that are striving to follow his son, Jesus.

It’s easy to think that we are strong enough, courageous enough, or smart enough to fly solo through this life. If that’s our plan, sooner or later, our lives will become a tangled mess. There is someone who will never leave us alone even in the most difficult moments. Jesus told his followers that even until the end of this life he would never leave them. His promise is also for you and me.

Eventually I was able to untangle the kite. Likewise, in my spiritual life, when I began to take hold of the gifts of Jesus and his church, the spiritual knots began to untangle.

At what point in your life did you discover your need for Jesus Christ and his church? How have the gifts of Jesus and his church affected your life?

I’d like to hear from you. Leave a comment or write me at [mail=info@hopeforlife.org]info@hopeforlife.org[/mail].

-Wesley Shutt