The Most Crucial Decision

It was early in the morning on Monday, September 26, 1983, in a small town near Moscow. The Soviet Union’s early warning computer system detected an incoming missile, then a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth, all launched from the United States.

The Soviet military protocol was to retaliate against such threats with a nuclear attack. The officer on duty was Stanislav Petrov, who was responsible for communicating apparent enemy missile launches.

The alert reliability level was “highest,” and the command option was “launch.” But instead of reporting the information to his superiors, he dismissed it as a false alarm. Many years later, he declared, “I had all the data. If I had sent my report up the chain of command, nobody would have said a word against it.” And most certainly, a nuclear war would have overspread the world. A later investigation confirmed that “Soviet satellites had mistakenly identified sunlight reflecting on clouds as the engines of intercontinental ballistic missiles.” Petrov concluded that the alerts were false because he felt sure that any first strike made by the United States would be massive —not a meager five missiles. Additionally, the alarms came only from a newly installed launch detection system and were uncorroborated by ground radar.

Far-reaching consequences were involved, and Petrov could have simply fulfilled his duty by passing on the information.

But he took the responsibility on his own shoulders —and made the right decision at a crucial moment when the future of humanity was at risk.

An infinitely greater decision was made by Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane. He confessed to three of His disciples, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38). Then, while alone, He prayed, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (verse 39).

In that awful crisis, everything was at stake, and “the mysterious cup trembled in the hand of the sufferer.” But, thanks be to God, Jesus went on to the cross and paid the price for our salvation!