I was listening to a great podcast by Malcolm Gladwell called, “The Obscure Virus Club.” He talked about 3 different men in the field of science and research who were dismissed by their colleagues because they believed something different from the accepted scientific theories. They felt there was an error in the way the scientific community thought all viruses behaved. They were ostracized, ridiculed, and left unsupported in their efforts to research what they believed was wrong.
Most people in their situation would have moved on from their efforts to pursue answers. No one believed them. No one would support them. No one would publish their research. But they didn’t back away from their pursuit of new knowledge that went against the grain. They were driven to find evidence of what they believed to be true in regard to how some obscure viruses worked. They spent years, sometimes decades, researching until they finally had tangible proof that what they believed all along, and what everyone else had dismissed and ostracized them for, was indeed true.
These men relentlessly walked upstream in the scientific community. They didn’t do it for awards, recognition, fame, or wealth. They did it because they couldn’t NOT do it. What none of them realized during their pursuit, but what Malcolm pointed out in his podcast, was that their work was absolutely crucial many years later when the HIV epidemic hit. The knowledge about how obscure viruses worked was crucial in developing treatment for HIV quickly and preventing certain death for everyone who contracted the virus.
They had no idea their work would prove to be crucial in saving so many lives so far down the road. Why didn’t they quit their pursuit? Why didn’t they listen to all the voices telling them they should do just that?
They believed in what they were doing.
Where does an unwavering belief like that come from? I have to think it comes from God. God knows what He is doing. He knows what He is doing with our lives, and He has an individual path He wants each of us to take. We can’t always see where our path leads. We can’t always know what results will come because of where we choose to walk. Sometimes our path seems pleasant, comfortable, and beautiful. But not always. Quite often our path is difficult, isolated, and confusing. It isn’t easy to walk those paths, but when we have confidence that God knows what He is doing, that He sees where each path leads, and that He will help us walk any road….it is then we can keep walking the path that no one else will take.
As I listened to this podcast, I found myself so grateful that these men walked the difficult path they did, and I was so grateful that God encouraged them to stick with it because He knew how it would bless so many people.
I’m no scientist, and I don’t think I will develop something that will save so many lives, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t have an equally important path for me to walk. When I find myself driven to walk a road that doesn’t make sense, that seems hard or scary, I can be almost certain that it is the exact path God had in mind for me. I can’t see the end like Him, but I can be confident that it leads exactly where He needs me to be.
Work In Progress 