July is always a crazy month in the NBA! This past summer, there was a ton of intrigue surrounding Kawhi Leonard and where he would end up. He finally got traded to the Toronto Raptors, but All-Star, DeMar DeRozan, was overlooked in the deal.
DeRozan, drafted by the Raptors, was a key cornerstone for the franchise. For him to get traded to the Spurs was devastating because he wasn’t expecting it and he didn’t want it to happen.
He recently described the process by saying, “I definitely was extremely hurt. I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t. I always made it clear that Toronto was where I wanted to retire.”
I’m sure the news was tough for DeRozan to hear because he thought he was building something in Toronto. He was close to his teammates and was pretty much the face of the franchise.
While dealing with the reality of his situation, it would make sense that he would struggle with disappointment, frustration, bitterness, and anger.
But DeRozan has had to move forward and embrace his new team in San Antonio. He recently admitted, “It took a while for me to get back in that happy place, where I didn’t care about much in the sense of like, ‘Just be happy, man. Just be yourself. Don’t worry about all that other stuff.’”
We can all relate to DeRozan when our plans change, people let us down, we end up somewhere new, or we have to adjust to a different reality.
Although it’s difficult letting go of the negative emotions that result when these situations occur, we can’t allow them to linger and ruin our lives moving forward.
We can easily convince ourselves we have the right to be upset and to hold onto bitterness, but we must accept the reality and turn to God to give us the strength to overcome these feelings.
The Bible offers us comfort and peace in our pain. 1 Peter 5:6-7 (NLT) tells us, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
Philippians 4:7 (ESV) gives us this hope: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Today, we may have reasons to be mad at our “Raptors” who trade us and let us down. But like DeRozan ending up with the Spurs, we must open our eyes to see that we’ve entered into victory and are surrounded by championship banners hanging in the rafters.
We can confidently embrace the now and the future when we “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence]” (Ephesians 4:31 – AMP).
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, forgive me for allowing unfortunate circumstances to cause negative emotions that derail me. I pray for healing and ask that You’d give me the strength to let go and move forward with excitement. Please remove all bitterness in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
