{"id":18518,"date":"2026-03-11T06:15:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T06:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/guideposts-classics-roy-clark-recognizing-gods-gifts\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:05:58","slug":"guideposts-classics-roy-clark-recognizing-gods-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/music\/guideposts-classics-roy-clark-recognizing-gods-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Guideposts Classics: Roy Clark on Recognizing God’s Gifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

People are always saying how important it is to believe in yourself if you\u2019re going to get anywhere or accomplish anything. And maybe they\u2019re right. But I\u2019ve learned one more thing: Before you can really believe in yourself, you have to believe in Something much bigger than yourself.<\/p>\n

I found that out one terrifying but wonderful night in a town in Arkansas named Conway. My life hasn\u2019t been the same since.<\/p>\n

To get the story straight, I have to go back about 16 years to the time when my wife Barbara and I were living in Maryland. I was playing small local clubs there, struggling along, yet refusing to give up on a boyhood dream to make it as a singer.<\/p>\n

ENJOYING THIS STORY? SUBSCRIBE TO GUIDEPOSTS MAGAZINE<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Ever since I was 16 and won a national banjo-playing contest, which included a trip to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, being a successful country-music performer was my one goal. But in 1960, at nearly 30 years of age, it really began to bother me that nobody had the foggiest idea who Roy Clark was.<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating<\/a>One Sunday during this time Barbara and I visited a nearby church. We felt very much at home there, so much so that we filled out a card expressing interest in joining. We\u2019d both been brought up in churches. Now that we\u2019d been married a couple of years, we wanted to get back to hearing God\u2019s word.<\/p>\n

A few days after our church visit, a minister came to our home and talked with Barbara. I was out at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd what does your husband do?\u201d the preacher asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoy sings,\u201d Barbara said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere does he sing?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever he can,\u201d Barbara told him. \u201cSometimes on radio programs. Sometimes in supper clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n

A long silence followed. \u201cWell,\u201d the preacher said finally, \u201cthat\u2019s just not right, you know. I\u2019m afraid your husband will have to change jobs if you plan on joining our church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbara was speechless. Nothing more was said, and finally the minister left.<\/p>\n

When I got home later, I found Barbara really torn up. She was crying and all confused.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: JOHNNY CASH ON OVERCOMING ADDICTION<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Roy,\u201d she sobbed, after explaining what happened. \u201cI just don\u2019t understand it. We both try to live right. I know how much you want to be a singer. I can\u2019t see anything wrong with that.\u201d<\/div>\n

I put my arms around her and smoothed her hair. \u201cI don\u2019t understand either, honey.\u201d I said angrily.<\/p>\n

God had always been a part of my life, starting back when my father held me on his knee and read me Bible stories. But if this was what religion required… I\u2019ll forget about the church and everything connected with it,<\/em> I thought. I\u2019ve got everything I need to make it on my own.<\/em><\/p>\n

That scene provided the final push needed to drive Barbara and me from the East Coast. I was sure a change of place would bring me closer to my dream.<\/p>\n

But out West, more disappointment awaited. In Las Vegas, where we stayed for several months, nobody seemed to notice that I was even alive. I played some small clubs, as I had back East, but I was always turned down for bigger things.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles would be better, I thought. I was now thinking of recording, maybe even doing some television work.<\/p>\n

A friend and his wife invited us to move in with them in their L.A. apartment. But even that turned sour. The landlady, who had rented the apartment to two people, didn\u2019t cotton to the idea of twice that number staying there.<\/p>\n

And my late hours, spent unsuccessfully trying to get record-industry people to listen to me, didn\u2019t suit her either. One morning she spotted me coming home as the milkman was making his rounds. Soon after that she served notice; Barbara and I were to be out the following day.<\/p>\n

By this time we barely had a nickel to our name. Fortunately Barbara\u2019s mother came through and wired us some money. Just enough, we decided, to make it back to Maryland.<\/p>\n

After piling all our belongings into a battered old Chevy, we went to a grocery store around the corner to do some last-minute shopping for the trip. Just as I reached into my pocket to pay for our supplies, Barbara slumped to the floor in front of the cash register.<\/p>\n

I bent over her, terribly alarmed. \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, honey?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got this pain,\u201d Barbara said, holding her side. \u201cThe pain\u2019s been coming and going the last few days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

We went quickly to a neighborhood clinic. The doctor there said it definitely was not appendicitis. He wanted to see Barbara again in the morning. In the meantime, he gave her a bottle of pills for the pain.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD HONORS HIS FATHER<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Later, Barbara insisted we keep to our schedule and take off immediately for the East. Pretty discouraged about everything by now, I didn\u2019t put up too big an argument. \u201cBut what about the doctor?\u201d I said. \u201cHe wants to see you again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d Barbara assured me, swallowing a pain pill. \u201cReally, I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, climbing into the Chevy, we began our 3000-mile trip back home. The more we drove, the more depressed I became. It was quite plain no one wanted me.<\/p>\n

Brooding as the miles went by, I told myself that I just wasn\u2019t cut out to be a singer. Once home, I would give up my dream and look for something else to do. For the first time in my life, I had completely lost faith in myself.<\/p>\n

Since our funds were so low, we couldn\u2019t afford to stop anywhere. Late one night, after driving across Texas and part of Arkansas, I suddenly jerked my head up. Dog-tired, I had nearly fallen asleep. I knew I couldn\u2019t go another mile without some rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarbara,\u201d I said, \u201cdo you think you can take the wheel for a spell?\u201d I looked over at her. I\u2019d been so wrapped up in thoughts of my dead-end career that I hadn\u2019t taken much notice of Barbara during the trip.<\/p>\n

Glancing down, I saw the bottle of pain pills lying on the seat beside her, nearly empty. But still Barbara refused to say anything was the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try to drive,\u201d she said finally.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: LORETTA LYNN ON A MOTHER’S LOVE<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As soon as we swapped seats, I was out like a light. Ten minutes later, however, Barbara nudged me awake. It was nearly two a.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t go on,\u201d she cried out in agony. \u201cSomething\u2019s terribly wrong!\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaping out of the car, I ran around to the driver\u2019s side. I floored the old Chevy and searched for a light\u2013any light\u2013along the deserted highway. Would anything be open at this hour?<\/em> I had no idea. My heart raced wildly; I didn\u2019t even know where we were.<\/p>\n

Finally I spotted an all-night gas station and there was directed to the nearest hospital, 20 miles away in Conway, Arkansas. Incredibly, when we arrived at the hospital, a surgeon was still on duty. Dr. Fred Gordy was his name.<\/p>\n

After examining Barbara, he told me that she was bleeding internally. \u201cIt looks very serious,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll need your permission to operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared at Doctor Gordy. Middle-aged, he had kind, compassionate eyes and an unmistakable air of competence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you say, Doc,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Everything was happening so fast it all seemed like a nightmare. I went to an empty waiting room and slumped down in a chair, exhausted, confused and terribly frightened. Here I was in a strange town, far from home. I had hardly any money, didn\u2019t know anyone, couldn\u2019t call anyone.<\/p>\n

The person I loved more than anyone in the world was desperately ill, maybe dying. Never in all my days had I felt so alone, so afraid, so helpless. So crazily did my mind begin to spin that before I knew it I found myself praying.<\/p>\n

\u201cLord,\u201d I said, \u201cbeing a successful entertainer doesn\u2019t seem so important to me now. I love Barbara … she means more to me than anything. She\u2019s all I really care about. Please help her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prayer sounded so peculiar coming from me, the big, thick-headed, obstinate guy who thought he had left God back there in Maryland.<\/p>\n

Then a strange thing happened in that little Arkansas hospital\u2019s waiting room. On the heels of my desperate prayer, a surge of warmth flooded my body, a feeling I\u2019d never experienced before. It was like warm hands on cold flesh.<\/p>\n

No longer did I feel alone in the room. Someone was there with me\u2013a caring Presence.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: MINNIE PEARL ON RECOGNIZING GOD’S GIFTS<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Then came a Voice, a comforting Voice, and to this day I swear it was God\u2019s. \u201cBarbara\u2019s going to be all right,\u201d the Voice said. \u201cJust wait and see. Trust … believe…\u201d<\/p>\n

And with that I knew she was going to be okay.<\/p>\n

Just as the sun came peeping through the waiting room window, Doctor Gordy came back from the operating room.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Clark,\u201d he said, \u201cyour wife had a tubular pregnancy. We almost lost her in there. I don\u2019t know how she made it, but she did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tears tumbled down my face, tears of relief and gratitude.<\/p>\n

Looking at Doctor Gordy, I saw that he appeared almost as tired as I felt. I wanted to hug the guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks, Doc,\u201d I said, pumping his hand. \u201cThanks a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

A nurse found me a motel room where I slept till noon. Barbara remained in intensive care for a couple more days, but the worst was over. Soon she was transferred to another room with, of all people, a preacher\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n

Because of what had happened in Maryland, Barbara was a little doubtful about this. But I\u2019d experienced so many fantastic things in the past few days that to me it seemed just another one of God\u2019s wonderful workings.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: ANDY GRIFFITH ON GOD’S GRACE<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

And I was right. When the woman\u2019s husband visited, and met us, we all got to talking about what the Maryland preacher had told Barbara. The Arkansas man said that he wouldn\u2019t say anything against another minister.<\/p>\n

However, he did tell us something that was the freshest breath of air I\u2019d felt in a long time. \u201cIt\u2019s God\u2019s church, not any one person\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201cOnly He can say what is right and what is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he said that, Barbara looked over at me, smiled and squeezed my hand.<\/p>\n

Later, on the road once again, heading for Maryland with a beautiful, healthy, Barbara beside me, I thought about those words\u2013what is right and what is wrong.<\/p>\n

Doing right, I realized now, was following God and really listening to Him\u2013not to one\u2019s own blind ambition. That was the way to make it as a singer or as anything else\u2013to put Him first.<\/p>\n

I had turned my back on God temporarily, but God had never turned His back on me. Not in Maryland, not in Vegas, not in L.A., not in that hospital waiting room. It had taken a life-and-death situation to show me how very real and how very caring He is.<\/p>\n

But that happens sometimes. It\u2019s when we\u2019re down at our lowest, I\u2019ve found, that He makes Himself so known.<\/p>\n

Through the years I\u2019ve come to understand that whatever talent I have\u2013to sing, to entertain\u2013is God-given. I have faith in myself as a performer, sure. But only because I have faith in Someone Whose performance is always far greater than the human mind can even begin to comprehend\u2013God Himself.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

For more inspiring stories, subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People are always saying how important it is to believe in yourself if you\u2019re going to get anywhere or accomplish anything. And maybe they\u2019re right. But I\u2019ve learned one more thing: Before you can really believe in yourself, you have to believe in Something much bigger than yourself. I found that out one terrifying but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[62,57,58,51],"ppma_author":[1632],"class_list":["post-18518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-blessings","tag-creativity","tag-guideposts","tag-inspirational-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGuideposts Classics: Roy Clark on Recognizing God’s Gifts - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guideposts Classics: Roy Clark on Recognizing God’s Gifts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People are always saying how important it is to believe in yourself if you\u2019re going to get anywhere or accomplish anything. 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