Daily Devotion Chat

The Wild Horse Within

 by: Cowboy Evangelist Rev. Joseph Holmes

Produced by: H C Cowboy Ministries

Scripture Focus: Romans 7:14–25

Mornin’, Friends.

Before the sun even thinks about cresting the ridge, you can feel the day stirring. If you’ve been at this life long enough, you know the feeling I’m talking about. It’s the smell of cold leather, the steam rising off a coffee cup in the dark, and the quiet shuffle of horses in the pens waiting for their first feed.

There’s something about those early, dark hours that makes a man honest. The noise of the world hasn’t started up yet. The boss hasn’t barked an order, and the phone hasn’t rung. It’s just you, your thoughts, and the Lord Almighty who sees straight through the brim of your hat and right into your heart.

Some mornings, that honesty feels like peace a quiet assurance that you’re right with God. But other mornings well, other mornings it feels like a wrestling match in the mud.

Today’s devotion is for the hand who’s been fighting a battle inside the battle nobody else sees at the coffee shop or the sale barn, but you feel it every single time you saddle up.

I recall an old cowboy I knew years back. He was a seasoned hand, the kind of man you’d trust to ride the green horses. Because he was known for breaking the wildest horses in three counties. Folks used to say he could gentle a horse with nothing but patience, a soft voice, and a steady hand. He had a way with a horse that just made sense.

But there was one horse he couldn’t break, and it wasn’t in the round pen.

It was inside him.

This old cowboy carried a temper that kicked like a wild mare caught in barbwire. It was nasty, unpredictable, and dangerous. He’d sworn it off a hundred times. He’d promised his wife he’d do better, promised himself he’d bite his tongue, and prayed he’d stay calm. But every time life bucked hard—maybe a truck broke down, or a cow turned back at the gate—that old temper reared up and threw him clean out of the saddle.

One particular morning, he saddled up way before dawn, the ranch was bringing a heard of cattle down to be separated. But halfway down the trail as he rode drag, he came across a young, green ranch hand who was not working the gate right and wound up letting a few heifers slip by with there calves instead of keeping them separated.

That temper didn’t just knock; it kicked the door down. It flared up quick, sharp, and ugly. Words flew out of that old cowboy’s mouth that he couldn’t catch back. He cut that boy down to size. The young hand shrank back, eyes wide, and the old cowboy rode off. But as he rode away, he didn’t feel strong. He felt small. He felt the heavy weight of shame that sits in your gut like a stone.

Later that day, he pulled up on a ridge overlooking the valley. He rested his hands on the saddle horn, looked up at the sky, and whispered, “Lord, why do I keep doing what I hate? I can gentle a 1,200-pound animal, so why can’t I break this thing inside me?”

The wind didn’t answer him. But the Word of God did.

In the stillness, The truth hit him harder than the ground ever did when he got bucked off “You can’t break what’s inside you by yourself, Son. But I can.”

He was trying to break a sin problem with cowboy pride He thought if he just clenched his jaw tight enough, he could be a good man. But friends, this wasn’t a horse problem. This was a sin problem. This was a heart problem. And you can’t fix a heart problem with willpower any more than you can stop a stampede with a piece of twine. Only Jesus can gentle a man’s heart.

The Apostle Paul talks about this exact, gritty fight in our scripture today, Romans 7. Now, Paul was a giant of the faith, but listen to what he admits. He says, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

Does that sound familiar? Paul is showing us the honest struggle of a man who wants to do right but keeps getting bucked off by his own flesh. It’s not just weakness, friends—it’s the flesh. . It’s the proof that we are broken people in need of a Mender. And you’ve likely got a wild horse inside you, too. It might not be a temper. It might be fear that keeps you awake at night. It might be a secret addiction you’ve hidden from your family. It might be pride that won’t let you apologize, or old habits that buck hard no matter how many times you promise “never again.” So you’ve tried to break it. You’ve tried to cinch it down. But here is the Gospel truth You can’t win this fight alone, you were never meant to. BUT JESUS CAN. See the victory isn’t in trying harder it’s in surrendering deeper. It’s in handing the reins to the One who made the heart that’s beating in your chest. When you stop fighting God and let Him take control, that’s when the peace comes.

Let’s Pray:

Lord Jesus, I’m coming to You tired. I’m tired of wrestling with the parts of me I can’t fix on my own. I’m tired of promising to do better and then getting thrown by the same old struggles. Lord, I admit that I can’t break this wild horse inside me. So I’m handing the reins to You. Break what needs breaking, heal what needs healing, and lead me down the trail You want me on. I trust You with my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Now Friends, if you’re fighting a battle inside today, don’t try to ride it out alone. Jesus isn’t standing at the gate checking your boots to see if they’re clean before He lets you in. He’s asking you to come as you are dust, mud, failures, and all. And if you’ve never given Him the reins, today is the day to do it. And if you’ve wandered off the trail, He’s calling you back.

Let me leave you with this thought as you head out to work: A cowboy rides a whole lot stronger when he lets Jesus hold the reins.