"He's Earned That Right"

As football season is now in full swing, we take a momentary pause from the gridiron to acknowledge that the NBA regular season is less than a month away. Per usual, a significant amount of offseason discussion has taken place around the Los Angeles Lakers.

After J.J. Redick's first season as head coach, and with the Lakers finishing with the third seed in the Western Conference, fans are hopeful that a full season of superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James sharing the court could result in Los Angeles making another trademark championship run.

However, beyond this season, there remains significant uncertainty regarding James' future with the Lakers moving forward.

James, who will turn 41 in December, has maintained an elite level of play that is unprecedented for someone his age in the NBA. It seems inevitable that a sharp decline will take place at some point, which means that no one is certain how long the NBA's all-time leading scorer will continue to lace up his sneakers on the hardwood.

In addition to his age, this is the final season of his current contract with the Lakers. Should he continue to play past this season, there is uncertainty about whether he would do so while wearing the purple and gold.

While many people are speculating and questioning LeBron's future in Los Angeles, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka recently spoke on how he is handling the situation with the aging superstar, saying, "The first thing we want to do in terms of LeBron and his future is just give him absolute respect to choose his story with his family in terms of how many years he's going to continue to play. He's earned that right."

Regardless of how we feel about LeBron, it’s easy to see why Pelinka would take the position he is with the current face of the franchise. James has been a consistently elite player in the league for more than two decades. He has earned the right to make the decisions he wants and to control how he ultimately wants to wrap up his career.

Instead of demanding answers from LeBron about what he is going to do next, there is an understanding that he has proven himself in the past, so he can be trusted to do what’s best now and in the future. He’ll reveal his plan when he chooses to.

When it comes to our faith as followers of Jesus, it obviously would not be accurate to say that God has "earned" the right to control the future. God has the right to control and govern all things because of the nature of who He is. He hasn't had to earn that right, because it is something that is His intrinsically. He is all-powerful and sovereign.

But, having provided that important nuance, it would be accurate to say that God has earned our trust in terms of how He will handle and providentially govern all our future events. We can “give Him absolute respect to choose His story.” We surrender to His will, plans, and purposes.

God has proven Himself in the past, so He can be trusted to do what’s best now and in the future.

As people, we are, unfortunately, very prone to quickly forgetting all of the incredible things God has done for us.

This tendency is one of the primary reasons we see people in the Bible regularly retelling past stories of God's faithfulness, encouraging their contemporaries (and us today) to trust God more fully.

Yet, this call to remember God's past faithfulness is more than just something routinely modeled in Scripture — it’s something we’re actively commanded to do, too.

Psalm 77:11 (ESV) says, "I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old."

Deuteronomy 4:9 (NLT) adds, "But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren."

Of course, we have all been through difficult times in our lives. And we should also never presume to know all of the countless ways God is working through the challenging times that we endure.

However, each of us should also be able to recount how God has been faithful to us even through our suffering.

In the midst of a passage where the prophet Jeremiah is recounting some of the tremendous suffering the people of God have endured, he writes in Lamentations 3:22-23 (NASB), "The Lord's acts of mercy indeed do not end, for His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

As we navigate a life assuredly filled with its fair share of ups and downs and uncertainties, let’s always be people who reflect upon the faithfulness of God.

Just as He has been faithful to us in the past, He will continue to be faithful in the future. He deserves to be trusted because He has never failed us, and He can never stop being true to His own faithfulness.

Today, let's set aside any worry or anxiety we may have about the future. Instead of trying to take control over the events of tomorrow or demand answers about what He’s going to do next, let’s remember that our God is always faithful and always good. Indeed, we can trust Him completely!

I'm Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for all of the many ways that You have been faithful to me over the course of my life. Help me to constantly remember Your acts of faithfulness so that I might more wholeheartedly trust You. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.