But I don’t want to be President!
“God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.” Job 37:5 KJV
My father use to have a friend that had a huge farm. This friend decided he wanted to rebuild one of his barns and needed some help. My Dad offered my services, for which I was paid. I don’t exactly remember what I did, but I do remember it was hard work and it was hot. As we sat down for lunch the gentleman commented on what a good worker I was. My father was never one to miss an opportunity to make a comment. My Dad said, “He is a pretty good worker once you get him started. Sometimes getting him started is the problem, though.”
It was an election in which President Ulysses S. Grant was trying to make a comeback. The Grant administration was one of the most scandal-filled in our nation’s history. Despite this fact, Grant remained very popular. Roscoe Conkling was the senior senator from New York and the leader of the Stalwarts. Conkling was chosen to give the nomination speech for Grant at the Republican convention. Conkling was a strong supporter of patronage (the chief cause of the Stalwarts). Patronage was basically a system where, if you won the election, you got to reward all your supporters with government jobs. There was no civil service back then and your job security depended upon who you supported and who won the election.
The Half-Breeds had two candidates to present to the convention: John Sherman, General William Tecumseh Sherman’s younger brother, and James G. Blaine, who had been Speaker of the House. The Half-Breeds favored civil service reform where by most government jobs did not depend on patronage, but on merit.
Conkling was a very dynamic speaker and when he finished he left the crowd shouting, “Grant! Grant! Grant!” He was a very tough act to follow. A young member of the House of Representatives, from Ohio, rose to give the nomination speech for John Sherman. His speech was so moving that during it he asked the convention delegates, “What do we want?” A voice out of the crowd shouted, “We want (you)!” A loud roar of cheers followed. He regained control of the audience and had them listening to his every word. He finished his speech by saying, “I nominate John Sherman, of Ohio.” The thunder of the crowd at least equaled that which Grant’s nomination had received.
Disappointment is one of the worse parts of life. Yet, even with the greatest disappointment, we settle into a routine. Some, much like myself, probably want to stand as far away from that disappointment as we can get. He was one of those Biblical characters. He had high hopes and dreams. He was going to make a difference. Then his act of heroism backfired on him and he was forced to leave. And leave he did. He got as far away from the situation as he could get. Leadership? Not him. He wanted nothing to do with that.
He decided to head out to the country. He found a wife and her father really took to him and invited him to help with the land. “Sheep,” he must have thought, “they don’t talk back and as long as you feed them, they are your best friends.” It sounded like a great idea to him. This was the life.
The Republican Convention of 1880 was probably one of those conventions in which most people thought would never end. The victor needed 379 votes. After the first ballot Grant had 304 votes, Blaine had 284 votes, Sherman had 93 votes, and three others received the other 74 votes. On the third ballot two new names appeared: Benjamin Harrison, who would become President nine years later, and the Representative from Ohio who had nominated Sherman. Twenty-eight ballots were taken that first day and still no winner. The next day, on the thirty-fourth ballot, Wisconsin switched sixteen of their eighteen votes to the Representative from Ohio. This delegate (the Representative from Ohio) rose with a roar, “I challenge the correctness of the announcement. No man has a right, without the consent of the person voted for, to announce that person’s name and vote for him, in this convention. Such consent I have not given….” He was cut off and ruled out of order.
On the thirty-sixth ballot the stampede came. When the dust settled the Representative from Ohio, James A. Garfield had received 399 votes, twenty more than was needed and he became the Republican candidate in the election of 1880. So the gentleman who came to the convention to nominate someone else and who tried to get his name scratched completely was now the nominee. Boy, I bet his wife was surprised when he got home.
Our Bible character might have been close in age to our 1880 Presidential nominee. He was just minding his own business and checking on his sheep. Then he looked and saw a fire. He probably wanted to quickly extinguish it before it spread. As he moved closer he noticed something strange. It was a bush that was on fire, but as the flames shot up the bush did not burn. Then came the part he didn’t want to hear. The Voice of God called him to return to the place of his disappointment and to lead the same people who had disappointed him.
Moses tried to turn down the job, but God wouldn’t let him. Moses tried to come up with the best excuses, but God wouldn’t listen. God equipped Moses and Moses became one of the best leaders mentioned in the Bible.
Just because you don’t want a job doesn’t mean it’s not the job God wants you to do. Just because you are a slow starter doesn’t mean God can’t get you going. Just because you have disappointments doesn’t mean God doesn’t have a purpose. Keep an open mind and let God handle the directions.
Prayer: Father, Sometimes it is so hard to be happy with my conditions. I want, no I demand that they change. Sometimes that doesn’t fit into Your plans. Give me hope and strength to carry on in those difficult times. Amen.
