Open Letter to the Lord of the Universe

Amos is a college graduate, and I am a college graduate and teaching credential holder. We reside in Southern California and both hold two jobs each.  We live in cheap housing, spend a very small amount on groceries, and eat out probably five times a month, at most.  We pay our bills on time, including our car payment and student loans.  By all accounts we should be living the good life (if you believe the messages painted on our city buses).

Yet we make it by with a rather small surplus every month.  So small, in fact, that we can't afford to pay for benefits, even for one of us.

And then there is Obamacare, which says that we must have benefits or we will be fined hundreds of dollars per month, and we still won't have benefits.

And I'm afraid.  How can we pay for everything and not become homeless, when this bill goes into effect next year?  What if one of us gets sick?  How will we pay for dental care, which is sorely needed?

And then I think, "I'll write President Obama a letter and explain everything.  I'll send it to the White House, and he will read my touching, reasonable, persuasive letter and drop his bill."

And then I think, "What if it never reaches him?  I know he doesn't read all his mail; I know that there are employees who have probably read thousands of just such letters, and that the letters have probably been filed or tossed.  Oh dear!"

And then I think, "Who needs the President?  I have the Lord of the universe on my side, and He hears me night or day, rain or shine, hell or high water, for better or for worse, in sickness or in health, private care or Obamacare, till death we are united."

And so I put fingers to keyboard to write a prayer letter to the Lord of my life, who will sustain Amos and I through it all.  This is not easy to write, and even harder to live, but I do believe this prayer and trust that the Recipient will read it and act.

Lord,

You put President Obama in power, and You turn and have turned his heart where You will.  For some reason that we cannot see, You allowed this bill to be passed, and now millions of people will have to pay, literally.  It is scary, and we do not like it at all.  It doesn't seem to be the right thing for You to do.

But God, we place our sure hope in You, Your character, and Your Word.  We do not hope in men who fail or bills that pass or bank accounts that just won't fill up. You are the sustainer of our lives, and we rest in You to care for us.

Help us neither to be lazy and listless nor to work ourselves to death.

I echo Psalm 112,
"[The righteous man] is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.
His heart is steady, he will not be afraid."

I claim Psalm 118,
"I shall not die, but I shall live,
 and recount the deeds of the LORD."

Lord, You wrote these truths, You will bring these to pass because You cannot lie.

We do not know what the next year will bring, but we trust You to be true to Your Word and to care for us, through thick or thin, rich or poor, in sickness and in health, from this time forth and forevermore.

Trusting and trying to trust,

Jennica-Ayelet