Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, became the first human to journey into outer space. His capsule, Vostok 1, completed one orbit of Earth on April 12, 1961. When he returned to earth, he declared that God must not exist because he did not see Him anywhere in space.
Frank Borman, American astronaut, Air Force Colonel, flew two missions on Gemini 7 and Apollo 8. He spent 19 days, 21 hours and 35 minutes in space. As he traveled outside earth’s orbit from 250,000 miles in space, he read from Genesis 1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Later he said, “I had an enormous feeling that there was a God, and that there indeed was a beginning.”
On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made their historic Apollo 11 moon walk, becoming the first two humans to set foot on the moon. At that time, an estimated 600 million people (the world’s largest audience in history) witnesses this amazing event. Before leaving the module he took out the Bible, a silver chalice and sacramental bread and wine. Buzz took communion on the moon remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins.
James Benson Irwin served as the pilot on the lunar module Apollo 15. he was the eighth American to walk on the moon in 1971 and said, “I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before.”
Charles Duke was the lunar module pilot of Apollo 16 in 1972. He became the youngest American to walk on the moon at 36 years old. He said when he returned, “I make speeches about walking on the moon and walking with the Son of God.” It seems with all the astronauts who encountered the presence of God in outer space, maybe Yuri Gagarin should have looked more closely.
Look up tonight and see the stars, remembering God’s Word, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament show His handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard (Russian or English),” Psalm 19:1-3.
Look and listen for God is present!
