Religious commentary: importance of hope
By Deangelo Thompson
thompsondeangelo@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2015
When the Lakers had Shaquille O’ Neal and Kobe Bryant, they won three championships together. However, these two players had issues and disputes with each other. In short, O’ Neal left the Lakers. Meanwhile, Bryant stayed with the Lakers. He kept hope alive.
In fact, O’ Neal argued that Bryant could not win without him. Bryant did not win right away and the Lakers looked hopeless. But Bryant kept on playing, eventually winning two more championships.
In comparison, O’Neal won one with the Miami Heat. Collectively, Bryant won 5 championships and O’ Neal won 4. What is the take away? In life, you should not let negative situations or negative people stop you from achieving your dreams.
Allow me to illustrate. The New York Knicks looked terrible at one point in time. Fans were angry at Stephon Marbury. It has been alleged that Marbury was suicidal and things looked hopeless for him.
However, Marbury moved to China and won three championships in four years coupled with a finals M.V.P. Furthermore, there is something that makes this story even more interesting. Marbury is 39-years-old. Simply put, a lot of players can’t perform in the realm of basketball this well at 39. Marbury, like Bryant, decided not give up the game of basketball and it paid off. He kept hope alive.
Allow me to use a final illustration. For example, when the global economy was in recession, a lot of people committed suicide. The suicide rates were high in many countries. However, the global economy is improving and people are getting jobs. It’s clear that suicide was not a good choice. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
In summation, in life we will have dark days and difficult challenges. But we should trust in Jesus in the good times and the bad times. We need to keep hope alive. Zechariah 9: 12 says; “Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.”
