When Matthew Stutzman was born in 1982, his birth parents put him up for adoption. At 13 months of age he was adopted by a Mennonite family in Iowa. When he was 28 years old, Matthew took up the hobby of archery. In 2015, he broke the record for the longest bull’s-eye shot by any archer—930 feet! He went on to win numerous international archery competitions including a gold medal in the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Paralympics? I guess I failed to mention: Matt Stutzman was born without arms. He shoots his bow and arrows with his feet. When he set the record for the longest bull’s-eye shot in 2015, the record had previously been set by an able-bodied archer. Matt held the record for seven years until another able-bodied archer shot a longer bull’s-eye.

Matt credits his parents with motivating him to learn to succeed despite his disability. From his earliest days, when he would need help with something, his parents would encourage him to figure it out for himself—which he obviously succeeded in doing. He learned to hold a bow with his feet, pull back on the string by pushing the bow forward with his foot, and release the arrow using a device attached to his back with a strap. Known as the “Armless Archer,” Matt Stutzman made a career out of hitting the bulls-eye on targets. (Now 43 years old, Matt has transitioned to hitting a new target: competitive auto racing—yes, he drives race cars at two hundred miles per hour with his feet.)

As far back as Old Testament history, bows and arrows were in common use (2 Kings 9:24; Psalm 11:2; Lamentations 3:12). And even before that history began to be written, there is archaeological evidence that bows and arrows were common tools for hunting and warfare. By the 1400s A.D., it seems that circular targets were in use for practicing with bows and arrows. Gradually, those targets took the shape of circular concentric rings with the smallest ring in the center becoming known as the bull’s-eye (theories abound as to why). As archery competition developed, points were assigned to each of the concentric circles with the bull’s-eye being worth the most points.

The best thing about shooting a bow and arrow at a target is that the bull’s-eye is stationary—it doesn’t move. But that is definitely not true when it comes to hitting the bull’s-eye in life—that thing most people are aiming for. If I had to define that bull’s-eye in one word, I would call it happiness. Not money, not success, not power, not fame ... but happiness. If they are being honest, most people would say that none of the other things they aim for in life—think of them as the concentric circles that radiate outward from the bull’s-eye—mean anything without true happiness.

The bull’s-eye of happiness doesn’t move; God’s best for mankind is a permanent target. The problem is that we think we can shoot for that bull’s-eye in a haphazard fashion. We think we can aim for the outer circles on the target, pursuing the targets of this world, and gradually work our way to the center of the target where happiness is found. We think we’ll warm up to the bull’s-eye of happiness by aiming for the outer rings of the target thinking they will satisfy. The problem is that they never do.

Here’s the truth: In Christ, we have hit the center of the target of happiness. He is the bull’s-eye, the never-moving target of our search for happiness and satisfaction. Indeed, the most common words for blessedness in the Old and New Testaments can be translated “happy” (Psalm 1:1; Matthew 5:3-11). And Paul writes that God has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing ... in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Christ is at the center of our target in life. And if we are in Christ, we have been blessed with every reason to be happy in this world.