As you will recall, Job was an upright man. He was also one of the richest men in the East. Job was severely tested as a result of a contest between God and Satan. The tests ranged from losing all his many possessions to the deaths of his 12 children, to his wife turning against him, to suffering horrible pain all over his body, to having his friends turn on him to not knowing why these things were happening to him. The tests for Job were indeed great. I do not claim that the tests for President Obama are as great, but they are indeed great.
During President Obama’s inaugural ceremony, a group of leading Republican officials and strategists met secretly at the same time to make plans to stop everything the President tried to do during his four-year term. That was their sole goal in spite of a failing economy. Never before in history has such a thing been done. Every other president had a honeymoon of at least six or so months. This President did not have even one day. President Obama is being tested.
President Barack Obama commenced his presidency in January 2009 with the national economy rushing headlong over the cliff of destruction, losing some 60,000 jobs each month. Because of his actions and the actions of others, we were saved from another Great Depression, but we still had a Great Recession. The country recovered with 55 straight months of private job growth, but the fact is lost in the whirlwinds of unrelenting attacks.
President Obama pushed for passage of a much-needed health care bill. Presidents have been trying to no avail to pass a health care bill since Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. What should have taken several months stretched out for more than a year. What should have been hailed as a great achievement became the most attacked piece of legislation ever enacted in the history of this country. Congress voted to repeal it more than 50 times. The name Affordable Care Act was overrun by the negative moniker “Obamacare.” During implementation in his second term, a great computer fiasco lingered for weeks and weeks. President Obama is being tested.
Then there was the threat of Al-Qaeda and reactions to drones the President used to deal with terrorists. He was greatly attacked even after Osama bin Laden was killed under his direction and leadership. Then there was the Deepwater Horizon disaster where an underwater oil well flooded the Gulf of Mexico for months. Then there was the continuing war in Afghanistan and the efforts to end the war. Then there was the 2010 election that produced many more extremists. Then there was the Syrian Civil War and poison gas. Then there was the huge cache of data stolen by Edward Snowden, which challenges the government and presidency on so many levels. President Obama is being tested.
Then there was the IRS fiasco leading to numerous Congressional investigations. Then there was the Civil War in Libya. Then there were the deaths of embassy employees in Benghazi followed by numerous investigations. Then there was the challenge with the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and annexation of Crimea and other areas, which is ongoing. Then there were the multiple deaths by mass gun violence and the failed attempt to pass limited gun control. Then there was the failed attempt to pass immigration reform with many Hispanics attacking him for not doing more. President Obama is being tested.
Then came the challenge with Iran and its nuclear program. Then came the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinians. Then came the challenges of ISIS – (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). The U.S. destabilized the region through the Iraq War initiated by former President George W. Bush. Now the President is being blamed for a group of insurgents running wild and threatening to take the entire country and attack the U.S. and other countries. President Obama is being tested.
Now we are in the throes of Ebola, a disease wreaking death in three countries in West Africa. It is also engendering rampant fear in the United States. There were other tests, but space does not permit my citing them in this Sketches. (I can’t help but wonder if these midterm elections are another one of those tests). No president has been attacked more than this President. President Obama is truly being tested.
The reasons Job’s tests were so powerful are the following: a number of terrible things came at Job one right after the other; each was different; each sprung from a different cause; those closest to him turned on him; he was blamed for causing the tests; and Job’s reward for passing each test was more tests. There is a familiar pattern in the tests inflicted on President Obama.
The great thing about the story of Job is that he passed the tests. He was also rewarded by a two-fold return of that which was taken from him. Let’s hope and pray that President Obama and this nation will continue to pass the tests and they will be rewarded two-fold.
EPILOGUE - My mother used to say, “If you know it’s a test, all you have to do is pass the test. When we know it’s a test, we approach it differently. When we don’t know it’s a test, we think it’s a curse.” I hope that President Obama knows that he is being tested, and all he has to do is pass the tests.
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