As we in Ukraine endure our fourth winter of full-scale war, our prayers seem to vanish into the void. Each massive shelling prompts fresh appeals, and each casualty report sparks new pleas, yet missiles continue falling, and death tolls mount. 

We’re doing the same thing as the ancient psalmists – questioning God’s silence and wrestling with the hard questions. What do you do with your faith when prayers just for peace seem to go nowhere? How do you make sense of God’s ways when you’ve been crying out for protection for four years and it feels like he’s not listening? How do you take those unanswered prayers and let them build your faith instead of destroying it?

An Advent reflection from a Ukrainian theologian wrestling with silent heavens.