Faith Conversations with Host Sarah Rose and Guest Bill Shaw

What happens when fear tells you to quit just before God opens the door to something greater?

In this powerful Faith Conversation, host Sarah Rose sits down with former professional rodeo bullfighter, pastor, author, and evangelist Bill Shaw. Bill’s story stretches from the bright lights of professional rodeo to a life-changing battle with fear, a struggling marriage restored through Jesus Christ, decades of ministry to young people, and a remarkable lesson in what can happen when we choose to trust and obey God.

At the center of it all is one message:

Fear does not have to determine your future when your faith is anchored in Jesus Christ.

From a $1.50 Entry Fee to Professional Rodeo

Bill didn't grow up on a ranch or in a rodeo family. In fact, he was raised in a small Texas town and participated in traditional school sports. But at 16 years old, everything changed when he attended a youth rodeo and watched a friend ride a bull.

Bill remembers hearing his friend's name announced under the bright arena lights and thinking, “I got to be a bull rider.”

His first rodeo entry fee was just $1.50. He mowed lawns to earn the money and arrived  his bull rope, spurs, or but not much knowledge of what he was getting himself into.

Other cowboys helped him get ready, put him in the chute, tightened the rope, and sent him out.

Bill won the rodeo.

That first ride launched him into a life in rodeo that would eventually lead him from riding bulls to becoming a professional rodeo clown, bullfighter, and cowboy protector. 

In 1978, Bill earned his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card and began traveling the professional rodeo circuit.

But God had plans for Bill that went far beyond the arena.

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

A Decision for Jesus That Changed Everything

Bill's wife, Karen, had rededicated her life to the Lord and began praying with another woman for Bill's salvation.

Two weeks later, Bill gave his life to Jesus Christ.

That decision didn't simply change Bill's Sunday mornings. It changed the direction of his marriage, his career, his family, and ultimately thousands of other lives.

Bill shared that his and Karen's marriage had been in shambles and was headed toward divorce.

Jesus saved their marriage.

As new believers traveling the professional rodeo circuit, Bill and Karen also encountered mature Christians who became mentors. These rodeo evangelists didn't simply tell them what Christianity looked like—they lived it in front of them. That example helped Bill discover that following Jesus wasn't weakness. It was strength. And he was about to need that strength.

Proverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

When Fear Entered the Arena

In 1981, while competing in Laramie, Wyoming, Bill found himself facing something he couldn't defeat with physical strength.

Fear

As a professional bullfighter, Bill had witnessed firsthand what could happen inside an arena. Instead of focusing on God's faithfulness, he began repeatedly thinking about everything that could go wrong. Those thoughts grew until fear began affecting him physically. Bill described feeling so fearful that the strength seemed to leave his legs. Despite being in tremendous physical condition, fear was draining his energy and making him question whether he could continue doing his job. Then fellow Christian cowboy Larry Smith stepped in. Larry took Bill and Karen to their motorhome, prayed over Bill, and gave him a truth that would become foundational:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” — 2 Timothy 1:7

Larry challenged Bill to deal with fear instead of allowing fear to control him. He also gave Bill approximately 20 Scriptures to read, believe, and stand on—especially on the days he was performing. Bill began replacing fearful thoughts with the truth of God's Word.

The Opportunity Fear Almost Stole

Then something remarkable happened. As Bill walked back toward the arena after Larry prayed for him, Bill says the Lord spoke to his heart: “Bill Shaw, I will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter where you're at or what you're doing.” Bill was set free from the fear that had been controlling him. And just months later, he discovered how much that battle mattered.

In July 1981, Bill had been ready to quit.

By October, the top 25 bull riders in the world had voted for Bill to serve as a bullfighter and protector at the National Finals Rodeo.

The very year fear nearly convinced him to walk away became the year God gave him one of the greatest platforms of his rodeo career.

Bill recognized something important: fear wasn't merely making him uncomfortable. Had he surrendered to it, he could have walked away from an opportunity that would influence his testimony and ministry for decades.

How often does the same thing happen to us?

Fear says:

Quit.

You're not capable.

Something terrible is going to happen.

You can't do what God is asking you to do.

But God's Word calls us to bring those thoughts into obedience to Christ.

Bill pointed to 2 Corinthians 10:4–5, reminding us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal and that we are called to cast down imaginations and take our thoughts captive.

You Cannot Win a Spiritual Battle With Physical Strength Alone

Bill was exceptionally disciplined physically. He trained, exercised, watched his diet, and prepared himself to perform.

But none of it could defeat the spiritual battle happening inside his mind.

That realization became an important lesson:

You can do everything possible to prepare yourself naturally and still need God's supernatural strength.

Bill learned to return repeatedly to Scripture.

Read it.

Believe it.

Receive it.

Stand on it.

As Bill explained during the conversation:

“Faith is believing it before you see it.” The Bible was no longer simply ink on paper to Bill. God's Word became alive in him and began transforming the way he thought and lived.

From Rodeo to Ministry

After leaving professional rodeo, Bill and Karen sensed God preparing them for something more. Eventually, God called them to minister specifically to young people involved in high school and youth rodeo. Their message was simple: Don't compromise God's Word. Encourage believers. Reach those who don't know Jesus. For 19 years, Bill and Karen traveled to youth and high school rodeos across several states. Through that ministry, Bill says they saw more than 3,000 people come to Jesus Christ. Think about the ripple effect. Karen said yes to Jesus. 

She prayed for Bill.

Bill said yes to Jesus. Other believers invested in Bill and Karen. Bill overcame the fear that almost caused him to quit. Then Bill and Karen said yes when God called them into ministry. And thousands of people heard the Gospel. We may never fully understand how many lives can be affected by one person's willingness to say yes to God.

“You Have Quit Trusting Me”

There was another lesson Bill had to learn along the way: the difference between working hard and trusting God.

Before entering full-time ministry, Bill was working long days, sometimes essentially two jobs, while he and Karen cared for their young son.

One day, while Bill was working at a drill press in a loud welding shop, he says the Lord spoke directly to his heart: “Bill Shaw, you have quit trusting Me.”

Bill realized that although he loved God, he had begun putting his security in himself, his work, and his paycheck.

He went home, opened his Bible, and searched for Scriptures about trust.

Jeremiah 17:5–10 particularly challenged him. Bill repented and made a decision:

“I will trust only in You.” A year and a half later, Bill and Karen entered full-time ministry.

When God Says Build, Build

Years later, God would challenge that trust again.

Bill and Karen felt called to build a bull-riding arena where young people could come, eat a meal, hear the Word of God, receive instruction, and ride steers and bulls.

There was one obvious problem.

They had $240.Yet Bill believed God had told them to build.

So they started.

According to Bill, what followed was something only God could orchestrate. They ultimately completed a roughly $60,000 bull-riding arena debt-free and later a roughly $500,000 church debt-free, after beginning with only $240.

Today, their outreach brings young people and families into an environment where they can experience rodeo while also hearing about Jesus.

Karen beautifully summarized the heart behind their ministry:

When you reach a young person, you reach a family.

What Is Fear Trying to Steal From You?

Bill Shaw's story leaves us with a question worth considering:

What might fear be trying to convince you to walk away from?

Maybe you aren't standing in an arena facing a bull.

Maybe your arena is your marriage.

Your family.

Your career.

Your ministry.

Your finances.

Your calling.

Your future.

Fear can make the possibilities of what might go wrong seem more powerful than the promises of God.

But Bill's testimony reminds us that we don't have to accept every thought that enters our minds as truth.

We can return to God's Word.

We can take our thoughts captive.

We can surround ourselves with people who strengthen our faith.

We can trust God even when we don't understand how He will provide.

And we can continue moving forward when fear tells us to quit.

God's Word for the Battle

Several Scriptures were foundational throughout Bill's testimony:

2 Timothy 1:7 — God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.

1 Peter 5:8 — Be sober and vigilant because the enemy seeks whom he may devour.

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 — Our spiritual weapons are mighty through God for pulling down strongholds and taking thoughts captive.

Jeremiah 17:5–10 — A reminder of the difference between trusting in man and trusting in the Lord.

John 15:13 — “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” These weren't simply Scriptures Bill read. They became truths he learned to live.

Your Fear Does Not Get the Final Word

Perhaps one of the most powerful parts of Bill's testimony is that we can now see what was waiting on the other side of the fear that once told him to quit.

The National Finals Rodeo.

A restored marriage.

Decades of ministry.

Thousands of people hearing about Jesus.

Young cowboys and cowgirls being encouraged in their faith.

A church.

A rodeo outreach.

Books.

A testimony that continues reaching people today.

Bill's life reminds us that we don't always know what is waiting on the other side of obedience.

So when fear tells you to stop, return to God's Word.

When circumstances tell you it is impossible, ask whether God has called you forward.

When you feel tempted to trust only what you can see, remember who your provider is.

And when the enemy whispers that you should quit, remember:

God has not given you a spirit of fear.

Your story isn't finished.

Keep trusting.

Keep believing.

Keep obeying.

And keep moving forward with Jesus.