The eighth person to walk on the moon, and the first to ride on it was James Irwin in 1971. While Irwin was on the moon he experienced the presence of God in such a way that a year later he left the space program and began to preach his faith, repeating his famous statement, “Jesus walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.”

What had happened was that he received a simple and direct answer to a prayer for help while he was trying unsuccessfully to implement an experiment on the moon’s surface. In the emptiness of space Irwin found fullness of life, and returned to earth to spread the word.

When I was preparing to move from Central New York to Spring, Texas, I was too busy to wonder if or how I would find Jesus in my new home. The day the movers arrived I had a sinking feeling that I was leaving everything familiar to me, and entering an entirely new environment.

The driver of the moving van said to me, “Spring, Texas! Is that the Spring that’s near Conroe, Texas?” When I answered “Yes”, he said, “Well, you’re going to God’s Country!” He was a native of Conroe.

I had thought that I was leaving God’s Country, but from that time on, I turned my face south, and stopped looking back.

“Do not be afraid or terrified…for the Lord your God goes before you; he will never leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) This promise delivered by Moses to the displaced people of Israel is the very rock that supported the whole nation as it faced the Promised Land, and afterward as they struggled to form a nation and a unified people. It is echoed generations later by the prophet Jeremiah when he wrote to the exiles in Babylon: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” (Jeremiah 29:11)

God’s plans included the gift on earth (and on the moon ) of His own son, a gift that supplied the one and only missing link in our relationship to our Father God. Jesus is the link that holds everything together between us and our Father. He lifts us out of the constraints of time, into God’s eternity. He is in fact, our Savior; and His walking our earth is indeed more important than our walking on the moon.

Love in Him,

Prue