It’s a 4-year Term not a 100-day Term

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Isaiah 40:31

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

(ESV)

Isaiah 40:31 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  I find that when I face something, pray, and nothing happens, this verse reminds me that I must wait on the Lord to receive an answer to my prayer and trust that the answer I receive is exactly what God wants for me.  In these troubling times, it is wise for us all to learn to wait humbly and patiently on the Lord for He is never late and his plans for us are for our good (Jeremiah 29:11). 

Daniel experienced the pain of waiting when he spent three weeks in mourning over the plight of his people (Daniel 10:1-13).  In this passage, Daniel finally has a visitation from an angel that tells him his prayer had been heard three weeks earlier but that the Prince of Persia stood against him and with the help of Michael the angel was able to deliver the answer to Daniel’s prayer.  Often the answer to our prayer may be obstructed by the spiritual battle we are in at the time and we must wait, as Daniel did, allowing the Lord to renew our strength. 

Ever since FDR, new Presidents in the United States have been judged by what they accomplish their first 100 days in office.  (1)  While this measurement provides a benchmark measuring progress towards the agenda the new President campaigned on and sets the tone for what is to come, it is unfair to judge the new President a failure based upon failures during the first 100 days.  This is because in the United States, Presidents are elected to a 4-year term and not a 100-day term. 

Unfortunately, however, in our instant gratification society, voters can be fickle and change when they become impatient.  Couple this with a media out to destroy the new President and his agenda, (2) and you have an electorate easily manipulated by a liberal media or like what President Trump calls it, fake news that does not report the truth but instead promotes a liberal agenda. 

In addition to the media spreading fake news, the Trump Administration is also dealing with hold overs in the bureaucracy or what some call a shadow government or deep state.  (3) (4)  Since these holdovers are government employees and not appointees of the President and since they are unionized, it is difficult to get rid of them.  This is nothing new for all modern presidents have faced this challenge.  I recall the opposition President W. Bush endured when he fired 46 U.S. Attorneys.  (5) 

President Trump also faces challenges from Congress who is not 100 percent supportive of His agenda.  One would believe a Republican President with a Republican House and Senate would have smooth sailing with his agenda but many within the Republican party view President Trump as an outsider.  This means members of Congress may agree on some issues but long-term questions still loom.  (6)  The recent failure of passage of a bill to repeal and replace portions of Obamacare is an example.  While most all Republicans, including the President, ran for office promising to repeal Obamacare, the debate over the legislation revealed questions over how to go about it.  Similar questions are coming up regarding the funding the Donald Trump’s signature issue, the building of a wall along the southern border of the United States.  However, before everyone supporting Trump in the elections bails on him, we must be patient and give the President Trump an opportunity to work out the details of the deal so Obamacare can be repealed and the wall built. 

President Trump became a billionaire working real estate deals.  These deals always involved back and forth negotiations and thus did not happen immediately.  However, Donald Trump’s massive success tells us he usually prevails in negotiating a successful deal.  Therefore, we the voters and citizens of the United States must be patient and allow President Trump to work out the details of the deals, remembering that Donald Trump did not run for President for personal gain but out of love for his country.  Therefore, let us not confine President Trump to a 100-day window and instead give him his four-year term.  Let us also continue to pray for President Trump and our other government leaders, praying that God’s will is done for our nation.

1. Elving, Ron. The 'First 100 Days' Presidential Benchmark Goes Back To FDR And Napoleon. www.npr.org. [Online] NPR, April 23, 2017. [Cited: April 24, 2017.] http://www.npr.org/2017/04/23/525310208/the-first-100-days-presidential-benchmark-goes-back-to-fdr-and-napoleon.

2. Bardella, Kurt. Yes, it's war: How the media should fight back against Trump. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, February 21, 2017. [Cited: April 24, 2017.] http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/media/320400-yes-its-war-how-the-media-should-fight-back-against-trump.

3. Graham, Chris. What is 'deep state' and is a shadowy network of Obama holdovers undermining Donald Trump? www.telegraph.co.uk. [Online] The Telegraph, March 11, 2017. [Cited: April 24, 2017.] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/11/deep-state-shadowy-network-obama-holdovers-undermining-donald/.

4. Greenwood, Max. GOP rep: Obama running 'shadow government' to undermine Trump. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, March 10, 2017. [Cited: April 24, 2017.] http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/323457-gop-rep-obama-running-a-shadow-government-to-undermine-trump.

5. Pamela Brown, Laura Jarrett, Kevin Liptak, and Theodire Schleifer. Anger mounts over handling of US attorney firings. www.cnn.com. [Online] CNN Politics, March 10, 2017. [Cited: April 27, 2017.] http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/10/politics/us-attorneys-resignation/.

6. Cowan, Susan Cornwell and Richard. Trump, U.S. Congress will agree on some issues, long-term questions loom. www.reuters.com. [Online] Reuters, November 9, 2016. [Cited: April 27, 2017.] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-congress-idUSKBN13416D.