Fair question. Exams are stressful and annoying and time consuming. Sometimes they just seem like setting ourselves up for certain failure. Surely life would just be better without exams to bring us down?
Could I be so bold as to say no? No, life would not be better without exams. And this, I believe, is why:
1. To teach us to rely on Jesus in stressful times
If you think your school exams are the most stressful situation you'll ever find yourself in, I'm afraid that you're living in a dream Disney-like world. There will be tough times ahead in your life. And God uses where you are right now as a training ground to prepare you for what lies ahead.
When we are stressed, it's so much easier to shut down than to rely on God to be our strength. But exams are a great time to practice Philippians 4 which says, "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
As you pray, as you learn more and more to trust that Jesus is bigger and better than anything you may be facing, it becomes more real and easier to do. Jesus said that "he who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much." Relying on God through your exams and in your busy, stressful schedule now will set you up to rely on Him in the even scarier situations you will have to walk through later in life.
2. To teach us hard work.
Becoming all that our Creator has made us to be will require some hard work on our part. Not in the striving, "I will make myself a better person" kind of way. But just in the reality of living out our faith daily we will have to be strong. Spiritual, mental, emotional and physical muscle is needed to run the race we've been called to, and building muscle requires hard work and doing the right thing over and over again.
Sometimes this means you have to do things you really don't want to do. Having the experience in completing unpleasant and unwanted tasks when we’re younger prepares us for the hard situations we’ll have to face when we’re older.
Actively and diligently studying helps build in us an ability to persevere through the hard tasks that God has presented us with and allowed in our lives for our good.
3. To teach us that even the most menial tasks can be for His glory.
It is easy to look at school as something separate from our walk with Christ, but actually everything in our lives has a purpose. If our chief end is to glorify Jesus, that includes glorifying him in our studying.
This means giving of our best, because God gave us His best in the person of Jesus. This means applying ourselves fully in our homework, projects and exams. It doesn't mean we all have to be top of the class, but I do believe we are all called to be the best that we individually can be.
1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So whether you eat or drink, or write an exam, or do a project, or submit an assignment, or draft an essay, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Obviously there is a flip side to this, where we can be so caught up in doing well in our exams that we lose sight of everything else. That's not healthy and will definitely result in disappointment and heart break, sooner or later.
What I'm talking about is a lifestyle of actively seeking first Jesus and His kingdom, with an aspect of that being, at this stage of your life, diligent and God-glorifying studying. I firmly believe that these do not have to be, and should not be, at all mutually exclusive.
I pray that you see God's plan for you, even now in the studying. Ask Him to show you His purpose for this current pain. And then own it, with everything you have in you. It will all be worth it in the end.
Work hard.
Trust God.
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