Roping Religion: Remember your focus

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.

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

There are times in life when we perform better than others. I like to say that I want a bumper crop at a record price every year but that just doesn’t always happen. How do we keep focused when we encounter challenges? How do we overcome health obstacles, financial difficulties, relationship stress, or any number of issues? The answer is for us to keep our focus on the Lord while remembering that we overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

As I write this I have just experienced the trial of having a kidney stone. One of my friends said that when she had a kidney stone it was worse than having 10 babies all at the same time. My brother told me that, as a pastor, I had to go through some things like this so I could relate better to the congregation. Well, I understand both of these viewpoints better than I have before.

It was about 4 a.m. when I felt an incredible sensation in my upper right back. I didn’t know what was happening. Was I dying? I got up and prayed and within 15 minutes the pain went away. I really thought I dodged a bullet. Well, a couple of mornings later the same thing happened but this time the pain did not go away. I am learning that you can’t always pray your pain or your problems away.

My wife took me to the local emergency room where I was tested. The pain was terrible and then it was gone. Did the stone drop into my bladder? Well, no. A few days later I went to a urologist and then a few days later had a surgery to remove the stone. A follow-up surgery to remove a stent was scheduled and then testing was scheduled to determine possible causes of my affliction. As I write this I am in the process of doing what I need to do in order to hopefully avoid another stone in the future.

I can say that the medical professionals I worked with were excellent, but the experience was traumatic. Embarrassment, shame, pain, humiliation, nausea and exhaustion were some of my emotional and physical responses to the stone. I was glad to know the problem and to have a solution to the problem, but I was not excited about having to wait to have the stone removed and the stent removed.

I wish that I could tell you that the Lord had given me an instantaneous healing, but sometimes God uses doctors to heal us. When I didn’t know what was wrong with me and I thought that something serious had gone wrong I knew that if I were to be absent from this body I would be present with the Lord. I believe that I still have not yet completed my assignment here on this earth. I want to keep pressing on in order to have a better walk with the Lord and hopefully allow God to use me however He chooses.

We all go through trials in this life. If we falter in times of adversity our strength is weak. No one likes suffering, but a good prayer is to say I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead. As we mature we can actually pray that prayer honestly.

There appear to be times in our lives when God may put us on a shelf for a season. When we are sick or hurting sometimes all we can do is just focus on getting through the next few minutes or hours. As we trust in the Lord He directs our paths and often brings others alongside us to encourage us and pray for us. I really appreciate all of you who prayed for me. I wanted the healing in my time, but God does not absolve any of us from going through trouble. My prayer for us continues to be “above all, I wish that you may prosper and be in health.”

May God bless you big.

——

This is the 24th in a 30-column series of Roping Religion columns by Kevin Barsotti, pastor of Ark Church in Havre.