Cowboy voices united in singing country hymns such as the “Old Rugged Cross” set the tone for the Annual “Cowboy Church” hosted by Clark Ranch on a recent summer evening in Arroyo Grande. The delightful evening punctuated with Cowboy Poetry, enhanced with a devotion and highlighted with delicious peach cobbler or apple crisp drew young and old together.
Grieb Ranch was represented with Connie in attendance and Stan bringing the devotion. Connie’s thoughts focused as Stan spoke,
Unfortunately, on this side of eternity, things often are not right. Oh, it’s not that we don’t mean well, or intend for things to go right. Somehow, in spite of our best intentions and plans, things go wrong. Now, it’s often certainly not for lack of trying that things go wrong.
I remember putting in hours on the ranch to get a big water trough plumbed, and the float adjusted so it would fill just right. Now those cows and calves will have no problem getting water, right? Well you can probably guess what’s coming.
That night, a bear decides that my trough is its own personal water park! He tears up the float, breaks the delivery pipe, and in less than a day I’m left with a muddy mess, an empty trough, a drained storage tank, and thirsty cattle.
THINGS JUST GO WRONG!
You make the list: Not enough rain from 2011 to 2016, Too much rain a flash flood/mud slide all in 15 min. winter of 2016, Cow prices too high when you need to buy back after the drought, favorite heifer miscarried . When things go wrong, something deep inside us cries out “How Long?” How long until things go right. We long for what the bible calls righteousness.
Even when life is hard, we know that following God will be worth any trouble we face in this life. Jesus endured the greatest pain at the cross to bring about our greatest good: salvation from sin.
That is why we can claim Romans 10:10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Can our longing for righteousness be fulfilled? Yes, it can by receiving the free gift of God’s righteousness through Jesus Christ.