From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 630):
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,
that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalm 30:11-12
Today, someone asked me about the war in Ukraine and what we expect. When or how will it end? I thought for a moment. We live in truly unpredictable times, so this question is hard to answer, but I also knew that as I speak, I would need to pick a side — an optimistic or a pessimistic one. Not an easy choice. But while I was considering it, I realized there is a third option — a side of faith.
I thought back and shared how many Western governments were giving Ukraine not more than 72 hours of resistance and how no one believed we would fight so ferociously. I remembered the incredible times when God was clearly on our side, when the enemy army was getting lost and confused, when the wind blew away their paratroopers, or when a swarm of bees disabled a group of Russian soldiers, or when wild geese downed an enemy plane. I thought back to many other accounts that were too incredible to be accidental, and I was reassured that if our God is for us, it doesn’t matter who is against us. That’s why I could confidently say that I don’t know how or when this war will end, but I know that God will not forsake us, and He will turn our mourning into dancing.
Voice of Ukraine 
3 responses to “11/16/2023 – “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing…””
Nov.16, 2023
From: Sergei Nakul (pastor of Big City Church in Kyiv and military chaplain): Somehow, answering the question, “What is the Middle Age Crisis?”, my professor Willem van Hemeren said, “The middle-age crisis is an acute awareness of one’s mortality.” I can’t say I am experiencing some kind of middle-age crisis, but after forty, I realize, more and more, especially during war, fragility of life, smoking, aging, mortality. And in this realization and acceptance, there is a truly precious comfort—though we wilt like a wildflower, and wilt like grass, the Word of God remains forever, as is the eternal God Himself, the eternal source of life. “The voice says: report! And he said: What shall I report? All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like a wild flower. Dries up grass, withers flower when the breath of the Lord blows on him: yes and people are grass. The grass dries, the flower withers, and the word of our God will be forever “
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Your response is so encouraging to everyone. You are facing incredible challenges and trials yet you bring a message of hope in God who does not fail. He is faithful!
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