Daniel Woods

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.”

— Psalm 19:1–2

The very first words of Scripture tell us in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.” Nature, whether on this planet or within the vast created universe, is one of the ways God reveals Himself to us. The stars themselves are like a giant newspaper just waiting to be read, filled with fascinating facts that reveal something of the greatness of our God.

Our planet, Earth, is part of our solar system, which is part of the Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is a hundred thousand light years across. A light year is the distance light travels in one year—5.88 trillion miles. I have trouble wrapping my mind around the first trillion, but light travels 5.88 trillion miles in a year, and our galaxy is a hundred thousand light years across.

Let me add some perspective. If you spent a dollar every second, day and night without stopping, it would take you 31,000 years to spend a trillion dollars. A million seconds is about 11 days ago; a billion seconds ago was 1994; but a trillion seconds ago was 31,000 years in the past. And the Milky Way is just one of hundreds of billions of galaxies in the known universe—hundreds of billions, each one containing billions of stars. The numbers are almost impossible to grasp.

Dan understood numbers like that. And each time he made a calculation, he wasn’t just doing math—he was learning more about the mind of God who created this vast universe. Pastor Louie Giglio asks the question: Why is the universe so big? If it exists just to be a home for you and me, it’s oversized. But if its primary purpose is to display the awesomeness and majesty of our God, then the universe is exactly the right size. It’s a canvas painted by the hand of the Almighty, showing us His power, His creativity, His glory.

This was the kind of thing Dan loved to explore. Dan loved space. He loved it the way some people love art or music. But I believe his love of space went beyond just the wonder of it—it was about understanding the God who made it all. Dan spent his entire life exploring that greatness through engineering, whether running calculations for space or figuring out how to hyper-cool the superconducting magnets used in MRI machines.

An Engineer Who Read God’s Handiwork

Dan was proud of his work with GE on the cutting-edge technology of the MRI. He didn’t talk about it much, and when he did he was very humble about it, making sure you understood that he was just part of the team. But he was genuinely excited when he was able to benefit from the technology he had helped build, and told the nurse about some of the technical details of how it worked. I was fascinated as he explained it to me several weeks ago.

Dan was a mechanical engineer with a deep focus on thermal dynamics. But with all of his training and experience, Dan had a way of breaking things down so people could understand it. He loved teaching and explaining these concepts to his students, and because he had both the education and real-world experience in the field, he was able to make what would have been boring technical material intensely interesting. He always had unique and valuable perspectives—and in fact, this is one of the factors that drew Gina to him.

Dan understood the physics, the precision, the elegance of what God had designed into the fabric of creation. He was reading the newspaper of God’s handiwork.

Every decision Dan made in his career was grounded in something deeper than ambition or achievement. Dan had his priorities in order: God first, then his family, then his church, then his work. The choices he made in his career were shaped not by what would advance him furthest, but by what was best for Gina, Kayla, and Andrew. He put his family first. And that quiet, steady commitment to the people God had given him was just as much a part of his faith as anything else he did.

He loved God. Gina told me—and I can attest—that he was always wanting to serve, to lead Bible studies, to do whatever he could for the kingdom. Church wasn’t just where Dan went on Sabbath. Gina described it as his hobby. His faith wasn’t something separate from his engineering mind. They were woven together. His curiosity about space, his love of discovery, his desire to understand how things worked—all of it was an expression of loving God and wanting to know Him better. Because Psalm 19 is true. The heavens declare—they speak of His glory. And Dan was listening.

But there was another dimension to Dan that those who knew him well understood. Dan cared deeply about people. When he saw someone mistreated or treated unfairly, it bothered him. Justice wasn’t just an abstract principle to him—it was personal. And it turns out, that’s exactly the heart of God. Listen to these words from Psalm 37:

“For the LORD loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.”

— Psalm 37:28–31

That was Dan. A man whose steps didn’t slide—because the law of God was written deep in his heart. A man who loved what God loves, including the people God loves.

Right now we are in the waiting time. We are waiting for the Lord to return.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

— 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17

Caught up in the clouds. Traveling through space toward heaven. Can you imagine Dan in that moment? He will wake up from his nap, and be reunited with Gina en route to the Heavenly City—they will experience space travel together with all of God’s children.

I can almost picture it. Gina and Dan, traveling on that cloud, surrounded by family and friends, moving toward the city of God. Dan motions to an angel and asks, “What’s our current speed of travel? I’d love to calculate our trajectory and our estimated time of arrival based on the distance to our destination!” Not because he has to—but because that’s how God created his mind, and he loves it.

Or perhaps a million years from now he and Gina decide to take a tour through the universe. Dan sits down with paper and pen to plan the trip. I can just picture Gina saying, “Come on, Dan—let’s go!” And Dan saying, “Wait, Gina—I’ve almost got this figured out. Just one more calculation.” And Gina smiles and says, “Dan, come on. Let’s just go. Let’s just enjoy this.”

But Dan can’t help himself. His engineering mind is still working, still exploring, still trying to understand the magnificent creation that God has made. And you know what? That’s okay. Because in eternity, there will be no end to discovery. No end to understanding God’s greatness. The universe will still declare His glory. And Dan will revel in the beauty and complexity of it all.

“He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.”

— Job 26:7

God doesn’t need pillars or supports. He doesn’t need anything to hold creation in place. He simply speaks it into being and sustains it by His power. That’s the God Dan served. That’s the God Dan will see face to face.

Home at Last

So as we remember Dan today, we remember a man who spent his life doing two things: he explored the greatness of God through engineering and discovery, and he served God with everything he had. He loved his family, his church, and his work—in that order. He got his priorities right. God first. Family second. Then Church. Then Work. And he lived it out faithfully every day.

One day soon, Dan will meet God face to face—the God whose handiwork he studied for so many years. He will travel through the very heavens he loved, moving toward a home more magnificent than any engineer could ever design.

And we will be with him. We will be caught up in those clouds. We will travel through space toward heaven.

And we’ll all be home—together—with Jesus.
And we will understand, at last, just how great our God really is.