Roping Religion: Finding comfort in hard times

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.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Jeff often preaches at Cowboy Church. He once told the story of Herbert Theriot, the 1994 World Champion Calf Roper. In the early '90s, Herbert was trying to qualify for the NFR and his flight to a large competition was canceled. Shortly after that his horse died. Herbert kept asking God, "Why?" God spoke to his heart and said, "Quit asking why, just begin to praise Me and allow Me to work in your life." Herbert then began to thank God in advance for the good things that were going to come his way.

Roping legend Roy Cooper blessed Herbert with two horses to ride and later Herbert set a new single-season record and became the world champion.

Many of us can become caught up asking God why when we should be praising Him, thanking Him, submitting to Him, and allowing Him to have His way in our lives. We sometimes think we know better than God. That is where many of our problems come from. When we get mad at God because He didn't do things the way we had asked Him to or because He allowed someone we loved to be taken from us we are just hurting our relationship with Him.

I have shared probably my biggest failure with God when I blamed God years ago for a member of our church passing away. I had forgotten that the enemy comes to rob, kill and destroy. This summer a family in our church lost a son. The mother told me that she got many calls from friends and one of her friends related that she, too, had lost a son. This lady's son died at 6 weeks. My friend's son died at 40-plus years of age. My friend said she thanked God that instead of six weeks she had four decades with her son. That attitude doesn't take away any of the pain of loss but it does indicate a thankful heart toward the Author and Giver of life.

Many of us can recount the stories of loss and hardship in our lives. Perhaps you still have not gotten over a painful loss. From my experience, I can tell you that if you have lost a child you will probably think about that child every day until you die. God is still at work comforting and healing you but the loss is real.

God wants to bless His kids. Often we become discouraged when we forget that there are two thirds of the angels who are good and only one third of the angels who are bad. We sometimes forget that God loves us more than anyone else loves us. We may forget that He has destiny, purpose, and a good plan for each of our lives. We also need to remember that if we falter in a time of trouble or if we fail under pressure our strength is too small. We need to be strong in the Lord. If you happen to be feeling particularly weak remember that God's power shows up best in weak people. He is all-powerful. God is love. He is everywhere and He will meet all our needs according the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

If you need comfort right now, lean into Jesus. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter. Our God has inscribed us on the palm of His hand. He has not forgotten about us. We can communicate with God as if we are talking to a friend. God is the friend who sticks closer than a brother. We just need to avoid fear, doubt, and unbelief in our relationship with Him.

Romans 8:28 states, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Let's determine not to question, complain, murmur or ask why. Let's be those who trust God and reach forward to those things which are ahead. Let's be like Herbert and thank God in advance for taking us through present difficult circumstances to the victory that He has for us.

May God bless you big.

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This is the 28th in a 30-column series of Roping Religion columns by Kevin Barsotti, pastor of Ark Church in Havre.