Sports Spectrum

You would have to be awfully hard-hearted to not feel at least a little sad for Colt McCoy. After a sterling college career as the Texas Longhorn quarterback, including being a Heisman finalist and a Big 12 champion, McCoy was prepared to play the game he had looked forward to his whole life—the BCS national championship game. As we all know, however, it didn’t turn out that way. On the Longhorns’ first possession last Thursday night, McCoy took a vicious shot to his right shoulder—and his night, season, and college career were over in the blink of an eye. The disappointment Colt felt showed on his face as he left the field for the locker room. So much anticipation and opportunity wiped out in a moment of time. You just have to feel for the kid. To his credit, however, once it was determined he would not be able to return to the game, McCoy was nevertheless on the sidelines, wearing the headset usually delegated to the backup and cheering for his teammates. It was a solid display of character in the midst of severe disappointment.

To me, it was a reminder that disappointment is a part of life that we cannot prevent. How we respond to that disappointment, however, reveals much about the nature of who we really are down deep inside. Even more, the apostle Paul found that, in the disappointments and struggles of life, it was his relationship with Christ that carried him through. When writing to the church at Corinth, Paul shared how he had endured many hardships and disappointments in the service of the Savior, but declared:

“…we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” (2 Cor.4:8-9)

I like that. It is the “but not” reality that Christ gives. It is the “but not” of His presence and power in our lives that carries us through the dark days and the deep disappointments of life. So, when disappointment comes to us, the question is this: will we be brought down by disappointment, or brought through by the God of the “but not”? It is a valid question.

Bill Crowder, Sport Spectrum Chaplain