Friday, January 03, 2014

Faces in the Crowd

I watched the Sugar Bowl last night. Millions of us did. Most were thrilled with a great football game. I'm sure Alabama fans are disappointed. I would be if Arkansas had been in their position.

On second thought, I'd be super excited if the 2013 Hogs had made the Sugar Bowl!

Can any of us really understand what the Alabama fans experienced? The last time the Crimson Tide lost consecutive games was at the end of the 2008 season. Florida beat them in the SEC Championship Game. Utah beat them in the Sugar Bowl. Since then, Alabama has gone undefeated for one season and had only one loss in two other seasons. A three-loss season was the low point but the losses weren't consecutive.

Losing the Iron Bowl - which cost them a shot at the National Championship this year - then losing the bowl game has to be the lowest point in many years. The expectations were high. The results were really pretty good but not when compared to the expectations.

I suffer from perfectionism. At one point I thought I had kicked it. In a Bible study in 1993 I learned that my perfectionism drives my procrastination. That explains many of the opportunities I've missed along the way. It works like this for me: I put off a task thinking I don't have time to do it perfectly now but somehow (stupid!) I'll have time later. Later comes and goes and the opportunity is wasted. Disappointment sets in.

I've never lost a championship game. Never been in a championship competition. But I know the disappointment that showed on the Alabama fans' faces as ESPN seemed to catch them at just the right moment. Did you recognize it, too?

On one level I'll admit that I was happy to see it. But on a deeper level I empathized with them. They watched as expectations went unmet. They watched as opportunity passed them by.

Some of us can look back on the landscape of our past and we see unmet expectations and missed opportunities. And we feel agonized. Maybe even guilty.

Each of us will have to determine whether the expectations were realistic or not. And we'll each have to decide if missing the opportunity was a curse or a blessing.

In every case, the disappointment is real but keeping (returning to) a right focus can help us move forward. And we don't have to wait until the next college football season starts - we don't have to agonize through an off-season. We just look toward Jesus and set out path toward him. A Jesus-focused life has expectations that honor him and are reachable through his power. A Jesus-focused life helps us stay on the right path that leads us to opportunities at just the right time.

Take these steps to overcome disappointment in your life.
  1. Confess and repent of any sin that might be associated with the disappointment.
  2. Study the Bible on your own and with a small group of friends to help you know God and his will.
  3. Get active in ministry through a local church so God can work in you and through you to accomplish awesome things.
Why are you downcast, O my soul? 
Why so disturbed within me? 
Put your hope in God, 
for I will yet praise him, 
my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42)

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