Think Again!

Chapter 15: Producing God’s ROI: Adapt to Win • 137

one will recognize their existence. At that moment, they faced a decision: would they embrace obscurity for sake of completing the mission, or would they walk away to protect themselves? Embracing obscurity brings you to that same crossroad: If you proceed, it means getting no credit and no notoriety. You may be overlooked, disregarded, and given no recognition for past performance, education, achievements, or experience. At this fork in the road you can go left , becoming resentful, cynical, and bitter; or you can go right , submitting to obscurity that leads to freedom. When you face this kind of obscurity, your real motives come out. When nothing is left for you but the mission, can you embrace obscurity? If so, your imagination becomes free for the mission. But if you insist on receiving credit in order to build your reputation, you reduce the number of creative options before you. There’s only so much bandwidth available to make decisions, and the more you think about yourself, the less attention you give to task before you. You sever your mind from the unlimited universe of imaginative options. Only when you embrace obscurity can you release your full attention to yield a return on God’s investment. Condition 1: You are Adequately Loved The first condition of embracing obscurity is coming to the conclusion that you are adequately loved by God. This is more than a theological acknowledgment of God’s character. It must be a heartfelt, rock-solid conviction that God loves you and is pulling for you . God’s adoring eyes have always been upon you. You had his attention all along, but you couldn’t see it because you have been too distracted by the sight of yourself. 73 You must be certain that 2 Peter 1.3 is true: “You have been given everything you need for life and godliness.” This means you can walk in safety and security, confident of God’s work