COWBOY TESTIMONIES
LEE AKIN
My name is Lee Akin and I am a professional bull rider. I have been involved with the sport of bull riding for just at ten years now. In those ten years I have experienced many things and seen just about everything. In those ten years I can honestly say that I have reached the peaks of success and drudged through the mires of bitter failure. My career thus far has taught me many things about how to enter rodeos, how to travel efficiently, even how to win when the big lights are shining bright... but do you know what lesson has stuck more than any of those? I have experienced Jesus' words when He says in John 15:5..." I am the vine, you are the branches... for apart from Me you can do nothing." Those words became more true to me personally than I ever would have imagined.
I
was saved at the age of 11 at a Christmas Eve service that my father and I
attended. Although I had accepted Christ at 11 it wasn't until my first
year of college that I truly entered into a relationship with Jesus as
Lord. I was young in my bull riding career and confident that, although I
was growing to love the sport, it would never jeopardize my walk of faith...
after all, bull riding was my ministry. A few short years, many pay
checks, and a hand full of television appearances later I found myself headed to
the National Finals Rodeo. WOW! This was it! I had finally
made it... right? Wrong! You see, in the process I had lost sight of
the reason for it all. I had lost sight of my true purpose and identity in
Him. I had taken the bait... hook, line, and sinker. I remember
standing in my hotel room and looking over the lights of Las Vegas. I had
my NFR back number in one hand and my NFR jacket in the other. I remember
looking forward to that moment my entire career... I was convinced that if I
could only make it to the "SHOW" I would be the happiest cowboy on earth.
I couldn't have been more wrong. You see... instead of being a moment of
victory for me it ended up being a moment of utter disappointment and
isolation. I had gotten there alright... but I had compromised my walk
with Jesus along the way. It was at this point I felt sort of like King
Solomon as he writes in Ecclesiastes 2:11..."Thus I considered all my activities which my
hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and
striving after wind and there was no profit under the
sun."
All those miles... and long nights... and rides in the rain... and all the pain
and bruises to make it here and all I felt was emptiness.
I am not writing this today to try to discourage anyone from following their dreams, in fact I believe that the Lord wants His children to pursue the dreams that He plants within them. However, I hope that by sharing just a small part of my journey I can somehow shatter the myth that the world so readily throws out there. There is no such thing as contentment or happiness or lasting success without Jesus Christ being smack dab in the center of it all! God made each of us with a special place in our souls that can only be satisfied with Him. I pray that sharing my experiences can maybe prevent even one cowboy from falling for the lie. Guys....a walk with Jesus Christ is as good as it gets. I can say now that I have put Christ at the center of my career I have enjoyed riding bulls more than ever before. That doesn't mean that I ride every time or that I have a guaranteed ticket the "SHOW" every year, but it does mean that I have purpose. I have the peace of Christ and the provision of my Father, along with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. "For who can eat and have enjoyment without Him?" Ecclesiastes 3:14
I am so thankful for what Jesus did on the cross! I wouldn't trade my walk with Him for every gold buckle or silver cup you could throw my way. And I am confident to say that every professional bull rider I know who has tasted of the Lord and seen that He is good will tell you the same thing.
There is nothing like Jesus........ simply nothing.
