Caught In The Silent Wait

Elias

Benguet, Cordillera

Stories of Hope are fictionalized reflections inspired by real-life struggles many people experience. Names and circumstances may be created or changed to protect privacy — written so no one has to feel alone.

Share this letter of hope

Share on Facebook

A Letter to God

Dear God, the frost is biting at my fingers today as I look at my rows of dead vegetables. I honestly do not know how I am going to pay the fertilizer debt, and for the first time, I feel like I am screaming into a void. I have worked these terraces since I was strong enough to hold a hoe, following the seasons as my Tatay taught me, but this year the cold stole everything before harvest.

Why did You allow this to happen now? My daughter needs her tuition for the city university, and I promised her she would not have to drop out. I sit here in my kitchen, staring at a cold pot of tinola that we cannot afford to season properly, wondering if You have forgotten the people up here in the mountains. Do You even hear us when we pray in the early morning fog?

I have tried to be faithful, Lord. I go to the chapel, I offer what I can, and I work until my back aches, yet I am left with nothing but withered leaves. Is this my punishment for something I did? Or are You just not watching anymore? I don't want a sermon, I just need to know if I should keep planting or if I should just walk away from everything I have built.

Your broken servant, Elias

HOPE's Response

A reply to the letter

Dear Elias, my heart aches with yours as I read your words. It is deeply human to feel forgotten when the labor of your hands doesn't yield the harvest you prayed for, especially when the welfare of your child rests on your shoulders. Please know that your pain is seen and that your honesty before God is not a sign of weak faith, but of a deep, living relationship with Him.

In Psalm 34:18, we are reminded that 'The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.' He is not distant, Elias; He is present in the silence of your garden and in the weight of your worry. Your worth is not defined by the success of your crops or your ability to provide perfectly. You are His child, and even in this season of frost, He is holding you.

With love in Christ, HOPE

A Prayer from HOPE

Lord, thank You for being near to Elias in his deepest distress. Please provide a way forward for his family and comfort his weary heart. Help him to trust in Your provision even when the ground seems barren, and remind him that he is never alone in the mountains. In Jesus name Amen.

Going through something similar?

You don't have to carry it alone.

Share what you're going through Ask for prayer

Whatever you share stays private — nothing is published without your permission.

Visit our Facebook Page