Blockbuster Trade
“Maybe it’s an April Fools’ Day joke in February.”
That was my first though when I saw the news. But no, it wasn’t April Fools’ Day, and it wasn’t a joke. One of the most significant trades in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) had been completed, the centerpiece of which sent superstar Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers while Anthony Davis made the reverse trek. Neither player was consulted before the trade was completed. It was a blockbuster trade if there ever has been one, and, while I haven’t been big a NBA fan since the Michael Jordan days of my youth, I was stunned.
Later that day, I read that one NBA player reacted, “If Luka can be traded, anyone can be traded. It’s a business.”
On one hand, it is easy to make too much of sports news like this. Even if you enjoy following sports, news like this has limited impact on your life or your Gospel invitation to make disciples (side note: that phrase—"making disciples"—excites me). So, while the coverage of the trade is breathless and filled with drama, it is very unlikely to impact your personal reality.
But what about that undisclosed player’s reaction: “If Luka can be traded, anyone can be traded. It’s a business.” That statement should make you think.
Is your reality that tenuous?
Is your identity, and your most important association, that subject to whim?
Is the foundation of who you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop?
The unequivocal answers should be no, no, and no!
Your reality is held by the one who set the Earth in place (Ps. 104:5)!
You have a name and a belonging, and both are wrapped up within the Name of all Names (Is. 43:1)!
Your foundation is firm (Is. 33:6)!
Perhaps you wish you were an NBA superstar. I, on the other hand, wanted to play baseball and start at either shortstop or catcher for the Chicago Cubs. But even those dream jobs come tied to a reality in which your professional identity and association can be altered in a moment’s notice, and often without even your consultation.
You, my friend, are different! You have a no-trade clause, and your eternity cannot be shaken (Heb 12:28)! So today, don’t operate in fear or trepidation. Instead, ask the Creator and Lover of your soul what it is He desires of you, and then boldly set out in pursuit of it! It’s not a business: It’s a calling and a promise!
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.