Roping Religion: Don't be afraid

Many of the ideas and scriptures for this article are from the devotional “God Wants You To Win!” by world champion calf roper Jeff Copenhaver.

Psalm 34:4 “I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.”

Some people are afraid to fail and others are afraid to succeed. Perhaps you have experienced both fears at some time in your life. The student who knows the answers to the teacher’s questions may be looked down on by classmates if he gives too many correct answers. The student who needs to pass all of his subjects in order to be eligible to participate in the big game has a real fear of failure if he doesn’t make the grades and lets his team down.

The Bible encourages us to be victorious overcomers. We are instructed to think about things that are honest, just, pure, lovely and good. We need to capture bad thoughts and not dwell on them. We are not to be victims. We should be victorious Christians who overcome the devil with the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

We seem to grow the most during trials of our faith. 1John 5:4 states, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” We are going to have afflictions and the Lord will deliver us from them. Our problem seems to be that we want the Lord to remove our trials and tests while He seems interested in bringing us safely through the storms of our lives.

In one of Jeff’s dreams the Lord told him, “Success is not what you accomplish, it’s what you overcome!” I immediately think of David and Goliath. David had to overcome obstacles from his brothers, King Saul, and a huge enemy. David’s proclamation, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Loed Almighty” reminds me that He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world and that those who are with us are greater than those who are against us.

We have to make up our minds and decide Who or what we are going to believe and Who or what we are going to serve. A good answer may look like “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” When we decide to believe evil reports and give room for fear of man in our hearts we are not setting ourselves up for success. When we believe the lies of the enemy we can quickly become discouraged and disheartened.

I have shared with you some of my stories about wanting to quit when the going got tough. I shared about the challenges of becoming an Eagle Scout and obtaining my master’s degree in education. There are times, however, when failure leads us to a better relationship with God. When we do our own thing or think we are hearing correctly from God while not really listening to Him we are setting ourselves up for failure. I have found that it is best to quickly repent and then to work to rectify the situation.

Sometimes we fail because we don’t trust God. Sometimes we fail because we weren’t meant to be in the position that we got ourselves into on our own account. If we can learn from our mistakes, we may just be able to not repeat them so much in the future. We also need to learn how to be successful. If we are faithful with little then more is given. Sometimes we can’t stand success and we allow pride to enter our hearts. Then we find that pride comes before the fall.

There are many stories of people overcoming tremendous challenges in order to succeed. No matter what cards we are dealt we have to play them to the best of our ability. We enjoy the stories of those who don’t quit and eventually obtain their dream. If you’ve seen the movie “Rudy” you know one example of what I’m talking about. Not everyone will want you to succeed and overcome. Our Father in heaven has good plans and purposes for each of us. He wants to give us hope and a future. Let’s work as if we’re working for the Lord and finish well.

May God bless you big.

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This is the 23rd in a 30-column series of Roping Religion columns by Kevin Barsotti, pastor of Ark Church in Havre.