“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

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A few years back I came across this article on the internet. I found it the other day while searching through my computer files. Unfortunately I didn’t keep the website URL. Knowing that I found it on the internet a bunch of years ago, please read this article with a grain of salt and a skeptical mindset, because many internet stories are not based in truth.

“For all the scientists out there, and for all the students who have a hard time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible, here’s something that shows God’s awesome creation, and that He is still in control.

Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called ‘myth’ in the Bible is true? Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program, relates the following development.

I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Green Belt, Maryland. They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon, and planets would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won’t send up a satellite and have it bump into something later on in its orbits. We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down. They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards.

They called in the service department to check it out, and they said, ‘What’s wrong?’

Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time.

They scratched their heads and tore their hair out. There was no answer. Finally a Christian man on the team said, ‘You know, one time I was in Sunday School and they talked about the sun standing still.’ While they didn’t believe him, they didn’t have an answer either, so they said, ‘Show us,’

He got a Bible and went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with ‘common sense.’ There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, ‘Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before Thee.’ Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy! And if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That’s right… ‘The sun stood still and the moon stayed and lasted not to go down about a whole day!’ (Joshua 10:12-13)

The astronauts and scientists said, ‘There is the missing day!’

They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua’s day was 23 hours and 20 minutes, not a whole day. They read the Bible, and there it was about [approximately] a day. These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you’ll still be in trouble 1000 years from now. Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits.

As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARD. The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said ‘Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees ?’ Hezekiah said, ‘It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.’ Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD!

Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes! Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe! Isn’t it amazing? (References: Joshua 10:8 and 12, 13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11)”

After rereading the article I thought, Wow! This would make a great devotion, if it’s true! So I did some research. This story originated on the internet in the 70s and spread quickly through chain emails. (Personally, I hate chain emails and chain letters. But that’s a story for another day.) What I found indicates this account is an Urban Legend. In other words, this story about scientists discovering a missing day,  is not true. Multiple arguments on the internet agree with the story’s falseness, as does Answers in Genesis.

Would it be wonderful if this Urban Legend did substantiate the Bible? Of course it would. Backing up the scriptures with science would be great. A true story like this might cause persons who would never consider God to think about Him in a different way.

But does it really matter to believers if the account of finding lost time in space is an Urban Legend? Not really, other than the spreading of a false story to substantiate a truth Christians believe. That’s something we as Christians wouldn’t want to do.

Why do I say it doesn’t matter if we can’t scientifically prove the sun stood still? It doesn’t matter because of our faith.  As Christians we believe a lot of things the rest of the world laughs at. I wasn’t there when God created the world out of nothingness. Nor was I there when God stopped the sun from moving in the sky or when He turned back the sun at Hezekiah’s request. I didn’t hear Balaam’s donkey talk, or see Jesus walk on water or calm the raging sea. I didn’t watch Jesus heal the lame and the blind, or drive demons from the possessed. I didn’t see Christ after he rose from the dead, and I’ve certainly never seen Heaven or Hell. But do I believe in all those things? Absolutely!  After all, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?…” (Genesis 18:14 ESV)

And if we believe in the things the world doesn’t believe in, or won’t believe in because they can’t substantiate them through science, then we are completely in line with what God’s Word teaches, for “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1 ESV) And our faith in things we can’t see, but believe in anyway, leaves us in a special position in God’s eyes. For Jesus said, “Blessed are those that have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29 ESV)

While it would be great to have science back up every miracle in God’s Word, it really doesn’t matter to me. I know God’s power, and I believe in what He can do. And I rest assured that my belief in things I can’t see makes me blessed. That’s enough for me.

What about you? Do you believe in things of faith that are unseen?

Prayer: Father, thank you for all we can see that proves your existence, and thank you for blessing us even more when we believe in what you’ve done that we can’t see. Amen.

A Missing Day (© Catherine Hershberger 1/30/21)

About the Author:

Catherine is a member of Greendale First Church of Christ. She is also an award-winning author of sweet and inspirational romance under the pen name of Catherine Castle. Many of her devotions have appeared on various places on the internet. You can find her books on her Amazon Author page or at Barnes and Noble.