We overestimate how much we can do. Or how much depends on us. And then, we foolishly make that (our ability) the measure of that person’s worth.

I recently watched a documentary on Stephon Marbury. He’s a former NBA basketball player who was cut 5 years ago by an NBA team. Since then, he went to China to keep playing basketball. There, he truly remade his career, helping Beijing Ducks win three championships. They even made a statute of him in Beijing a la Michael Jordan style in Chicago.

Then, I watched a game between two greatest basketball teams in the world – Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – on Christmas day. It was a great game. And two great guards were going at each other – Stephen Curry vs Kyrie Irving. And I thought to myself, if either of these two guys played in China, they would easily be the best player China has ever known. If a washed up player like Stephon Marbury can be the best player in China, then certainly…

The world will attribute to their talent to their hard work and dedication. But if they were born in this country just 100 years ago, they would’ve never played basketball. Who knows? Maybe 100 years ago in this country, there was a man more talented than Michael Jordan but because basketball wasn’t around, we never got to find out.

Give credit to where credit is due. It is God who determines. It was God who determined, where, when, and with what talent we were going to be born with. We chose nothing about us. Not our race. Not our height. Not our genetic make-up. Not our talents. And not our longevity. Everything depends on God.

“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” Romans 9:16. 

But this doesn’t mean that we sit back and do nothing. We must strive. We must pursue righteousness. And we must pursue righteousness by faith.

“Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law… because they did not pursue it by faith.” 

It is doing the best we can, leaving the result to God. Dependent responsibility.

PH