Preface
This is an emotional response to the crushing loss and humiliating ending to the Arizona Cardinals NFL 2015-2016 season. This feeling of fury and rage felt at the deepest part of one’s gut is NOT one that can be put into words, but for some fans, this picture alone can induce the feeling.
During that moment I tried to express my distaste for the classless sportsmanship through Twitter, but I’m not sure that was the best way to resolve my feelings:
Cam Newton is so into himself I'm pretty sure he is paying for his own commercial time.
— Nick Worth (@Xtremefaith) January 25, 2016
Disappointment is something I definitely struggle with. Most of the time I place no hope in anything on earth (considering how hopeless it is). But sports represent a different kind of hope, a hope that is intentionally temporal; meaning even when you win you understand the victory is momentary. So in the big scheme of things winning is never everything, but in the context of competition you hope for that temporal victory because of the hunger of the passion within you. Passion is something internal, it doesn’t just “hope” with optimism, but it feeds on any opportunity to triumph. As long as there is an opportunity then there is a hunger, and that hunger is not satisfied until it has seized the opportunity.
“…in the big scheme of things winning is never everything”
What happens when your passion falls short of its pursuit? The opportunity escapes and your passion is more hungry than when it began. Like a cheetah who exhausts itself at its top speed only to see its prey prance away. The opportunity may be gone forever but the hunger rages on. Will your temper ever really be tamed if it settles for anything less?
#TamingPassion
Since desire and passion are seated within our hearts, perhaps we should remind ourselves of where this unquenchable passion really comes from. We have a Creator who claims to have an all-giving, all-reaching, compassionate, everlasting, forgiving, immovable, irrefutable, irresistible, merciful, overarching, passionate, priceless, undeniable, unfailing, unsearchable, unstoppable love for us that is stronger than death. Like a fire that cannot be quenched by water, God displayed a picture of this passion for His people when He devoured Elisha’s sacrifice with fire from heaven even after it was drenched. If you think your passion is eager, compare it to God’s. His love for you is JEALOUS! (Exodus 34:14) His love for you will always PROTECT, always TRUST, always HOPE, always PERSEVERE. And ultimately, His love never fails! (1 Corinthians 13:6-7)
So while success may be sweet and loss can be bitter, love is still the only thing that satisfies. Seasons may come and go but love will always remain. 1 John 4:8 tells us that “God is Love,” He does not just contain this passion within Himself but He IS the relentless passion. He is the pursuer of the human heart, the lover of your heart, and He put within you that same unquenchable desire so that you might pursue Him.
Therefore, let your passions burn! Let your zeal rage! You were created with intense emotions so that you might run to the Father with the same fervor He has for you. Run the race, “Run in such a way as to get the prize… a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).