From Obscurity to Greatness

“Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

by Royce

Have you seen the movie AIR? It tells the story of how Nike recruited Michael Jordan during a time when the company was relatively unknown compared to major sneaker brands like Converse and Adidas. When Jordan entered the NBA, Nike saw an opportunity and placed all their bets on him. They developed a new product line specifically for Jordan, and even shared a sales percentage with him — a groundbreaking move that had never been done in the industry before.

Initially, Nike estimated that Jordan’s product line would generate only $3 million over the next three years. However, in the first year after the launch of Air Jordan, sales reached an astounding $126 million. To put this into perspective, Nike’s total revenue in the previous year was only $65 million. Even today, long after Jordan’s retirement, the Air Jordan line continues to contribute a staggering $10 billion annually to Nike. It’s safe to say that without Michael Jordan, Nike might not be the iconic brand we know today.

God has a habit of choosing the overlooked — the shepherd boy David, the youngest son Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth. His economy does not run on credentials, market position, or reputation. He looks at what others have written off and says: I’ll bet everything on that.

Where in your life are you being dismissed as a “Nazareth” — a place from which nothing great is expected? And where might God be quietly building an Air Jordan moment out of that very obscurity?