Look at Man - He Has Nostrils!

"Raider fans, with the first pick of the 2007 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders select Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, LSU." Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner

Those familiar with the former number one overall pick might assume that what follows this quote is another tirade regarding how much Russell has failed to live up to expectations. Coming out of Louisiana State University to play at the professional level, JaMarcus Russell was expected to excel on the gridiron. Draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. spoke glowingly about Russell. "[He] is going to immediately energize Raider Nation... Three years from now you could be looking at a guy who is certainly one of the elite, top five quarterbacks in this league." However, after only three seasons, it has become apparent that Russell is not the player everyone expected him to be.

Articles and broadcasts detailing the massive disappointment that is Russell's football career have piled up over the last few years. Raider fans became disgruntled as Russell continued to struggle. As he prepared for the 2010 season, Russell lost his last and most important supporter, the notorious Raiders owner Al Davis, and was released in May.

It only took three years for the projected superstar to hit rock bottom. Except, rock bottom gave in to even further disappointment and shame. During a make-or-break summer, Russell was arrested for possession of a controlled substance -- codeine syrup -- and likely will not play in the NFL any time soon.

The main point of this entry is not to ridicule Russell for poor decision-making or to make fun of Raiders fans for another catastrophic event under Davis' watch. Russell's epic fall from a pillar of hope and expectation to a figure marked by great disappointment and failure is not unique. He is only part of a limitless line of frustrating personalities who have tortured the public by failing to satisfy expectations.

We put our hope in all sorts of individuals. We put our hope in political figures to change or maintain policies in order to provide us a better way of life. We put our hope in family members and our community leaders. Many of us put our hope in celebrities and sports figures in order to be entertained and given an escape from reality.

Two things can happen when we put our hope in individuals such as these. Some of them may actually live up to our expectations; however the results do not last forever. Even our fulfilled hopes do not permanently satisfy our hearts. We go on hoping in something or someone new. Other figures like JaMarcus Russell may fail to live up to our expectations. Hopes are crushed, and we are left scrambling in search of something else to satisfy us.

We must learn to "stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (Isaiah 2:22).  No man can ultimately satisfy all of our hopes. We are warned, "Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation," (Psalm 146:3).

This line of disappointment goes all the way back to the first man, Adam. He stood as the representative for all of man and failed miserably. But God gave us a second representative. He met every expectation and offers satisfaction to every longing and hope. "For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ," (Romans 5:17).

Raiders fans were completely let down by JaMarcus Russell. We have all been let down by our first representative. But unlike Raiders fans, we have a clear way for hope.