Inspiration and Hope -

Cresting the Wave

“For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name).” – Isaiah 51:15 NAS.

This is the God Almighty, all powerful, the great “I Am” expressed in Isaiah 51:15. I used to love walking the beach in Bay Head, New Jersey in the early morning when the sun was just coming up in the east. Listening to the waves roll in and looking for sea glass was a pastime of mine since I was a little boy. Even when I go to the ocean now in my later years, this is one of my favorite things to do. I would fill my pockets with different colored sea glass that had been furbished by the sea –frosted blues, aquamarines, pinks, reds, browns, whites, and greens. Oh, what joy that was! And then I would spread out all the sea glass on a table when I got home and would sort them by color and fill a jar with them to marvel at. Does God marvel at you? Are you recognized by the deeds of your flesh, as pieces of jagged glass, or are you evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in you to crucify your flesh? Is the evidence of God’s waves – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

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Embracing Conflict and Suffering

None of us likes conflict, but it is part and parcel with life. With conflict, often there is suffering. Conflict can be anything from a disagreement with someone to a struggle of the mind, to a spiritual battle. Failed relationships, businesses that crash, spiritual warfare, are just some of the types of conflict that so many of us face and lack the courage to confront or don’t know how to confront. But it is courage that God commands of us. But you say “I am afraid”. Realize that you will always face situations when fear will try to rule your life, and if we do not allow Jesus to get hold of our heart, and if we do not stay focused on Him in the moment, the conflict can have a devastating impact on our lives, not only emotionally, but in all that we perform daily (our jobs, our kids, new relationships, etc.). God doesn’t want us to be knocked down repeatedly or to wallow in self-pity, or to feel guilt or remorse. Realize that your conflict is necessary and can be your spiritual road to peace and joy, and a right relationship with God. .

Herein we will look at our mindset to have the right attitude towards conflict and suffering in our lives. We need to learn to regard conflict and suffering as necessary for spiritual growth. “You can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.”

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Your children will be like olive shoots around your table

Welcome to my blog site, a site for sharing inspiration and hope in a world that so desperately needs it.

Why hope? Because without hope, dreams are not possible. Without hope, the present moment can be unbearable.

Why inspiration? Because to have hope and understanding, we need to be inspired to believe that all things are possible with God.

My name is Bill Hutzel The picture you see here is of me holding my daughter. That was many years ago. She is all grown up now, but she is still my little girl. I had been blessed with her after 10 years of hoping and waiting. More than 32 years ago she was only a dream. Then one day I got the bad news from the fertility specialists that my wife had a blocked fallopian tube and other complications, so it was doubtful that we might ever have our own children without very aggressive fertility treatments and as a last resort, in vitro fertilization. It was shortly thereafter that I attended a healing service and went forward for prayer. The preacher’s name was Joe Garlington. He prayed over me and prophesied that I would have my own child, and spoke the following verse to me from Psalm 128:3-4 – “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the LORD.” I think I promised Joe that I would name him Joseph. Sorry Joe, but it was a girl! We named her Alexandra Leigh (Aleigh for short).

Not One, but Four … Prophecy Fulfilled

I am now not only blessed with my special and beautiful daughter Aleigh, but three amazing sons, Griff, Rhett, and Dawson. My children are like olive shoots around our table. And each one has a special characteristic of me ingrained in them. God loved me so much that, even before I knew Peggy as my wife, he placed certain characteristics of each of the boys in her womb that matched mine so that I might be blessed. It’s overwhelming to me that God loves me that much.