Grounded in Christ, Even in Space
I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus was honest with His disciples. He didn't promise them an easy road, but He did promise them peace in the middle of a hard one. That peace wasn't dependent on circumstances lining up the way they hoped. It was rooted in Him.
Butch Wilmore knows something about circumstances not lining up. What was supposed to be an 8-day mission to the International Space Station turned into nearly 10 months away from home, from June 2024 to March 2025. That's the kind of unexpected turn that could easily unravel a person's sense of peace. Plans changed. Timelines dissolved. And yet, Wilmore has shared how his faith in Christ kept him steady through it all, trusting in God's sovereignty even when the situation was completely out of his hands.
That's really what Jesus is getting after in this verse. He tells His followers plainly that oppression, trouble, and disruption are simply part of life in this world. He doesn't sugarcoat it. But He follows that honesty with a command and a promise: cheer up, because He has already overcome the world. The peace He offers isn't the absence of hardship, it's confidence that stands firm inside of it.
Wilmore's extended stay in orbit is a striking picture of how faith can hold steady even when everything else is uncertain, even when you're literally floating hundreds of miles above the earth with no control over when you'll return. His example points back to the same truth Jesus spoke to His disciples: peace isn't found in predictable circumstances, but in the One who has already overcome whatever we're facing.
If you want to hear more of how Wilmore's faith carried him through those unexpected months, check out CBN News's full piece, "Stuck in Space: How NASA Astronaut Butch Wilmore Stayed Grounded in Christ Despite the Unexpected."
Read the source: CBN News →