O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? … But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. Psalm 13:1-2,5a
During seventeen months of captivity in the jungles of South America, a radio program was one man’s lifeline to hope.
Ray had been taken prisoner by guerilla forces in Colombia. Isolated and gripped by fear, he was occasionally allowed to listen to Christian broadcasts on a small radio. One day, the words of scripture—of Psalm 13, resonated with his heart: “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?” (Psalm 13:1-2). Those brief moments became anchors of hope.
Ray later wrote to say it was hard to put into words the impact the programs had on him. While his circumstances didn’t change overnight, something inside him did. He shared that even in his suffering, he knew that God was still shaping his heart. He described it this way: “God was making me into something on the inside that my captors needed to see on the outside.”
The night he was finally released, Ray remembered the rest of the Psalm: “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me” (Psalm 13:5a). And something remarkable happened. The very men who guarded Ray lined up to shake his hand. He was able to speak openly about his faith with those willing to listen. Hope had quietly been growing in a place where despair once lived.
Stories like this remind us that a few minutes of God’s word, heard at the right time, can steady a heart and even soften others around us. You can help share words of hope like these with people around the world—those in hospital rooms, refugee camps, villages and even hidden places—in their own languages. Give a gift today at guidelines.org.
