The Hand of God

by Wesley Shutt

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 precious hope to us that are imperfect.

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

Visit our website, www.hopeforlife.org, to watch video testimonies about people that have accepted God and stop by our blog to leave a comment. If you would like, send me an email at wshutt@heraldoftruth.org.








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Posted: 01/07/2009
URL: http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200901/20090107_godshand.html

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