Exam Stress | Exam Mess

Exam and deadline season is almost over and if you're anything like I was by this point you're probably tired, slightly brain dead and most definitely unenthused about the thought of spending another day studying. The end is in sight and whilst theoretically that should be a thought of delight, it is actually one of slight terror at the amount of work you still have to get through.

By the time you get home you don't really want to do anything other than collapse in a heap and just vegetate until you go to bed. When the alarm goes off in the morning, spending time with God is more of a motion than anything else. So here's a thought, ditch the bible reading when you've just woken up and take it with you! When you arrive in the library, spend you first chunk of time with God reading his word and praying for the day.

In the middle of the stress of the library (or wherever else you choose to study) invite the Prince of Peace himself to join you, in a place where it's easy to generate the idol of self-reliance turn to God and ask for his help. 

In Matthew 6:34, Jesus says:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

So, focus on your day, trust God that he will see you through and maybe ask him for a reality check, because exam session always throws everything out of proportion. In the grand scheme of your life, your exams probably don't hold as much weight as you are currently giving them.

Here are two things to hold onto:

1. ​God is creator.
   Basic truth I know, but it means he created your degree and is the expert in the subject from the beginning of time, to the end. So why aren't you talking to him about it? 
   In case you need a reminder about how big our creator God is, give Job 38 a read
2. God is King
   God has already won the war and he isn't dependent on your degree mark. That may sound harsh, but he knows where you are headed next, yes it might be on a different path to where you think your going, but isn't better to stay in his plan than your own? And not only does he know where you're heading, he knows what you need to get there, and he'll make sure he provides it. So don't worry, give that to God and trust in his provision.
   (Also, this doesn't mean don't work, the Bible is pretty clear we should work hard, but that doesn't mean overwork or over-stress)

Finally, make sure you are resting, and resting well in God, even if that means listening to worship music rather than TV for an hour when you get home, make sure you are spending time with God in your downtime as well as your study time. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

biblesync vs. Exam Stress

For those lovely people who read this and don't attend York University - this week is exam week, potentially my favourite week of the year, not only does it ruin Christmas but there is too little time between exams to feel remotely prepared for the next. Therefore, like other people I end up very stressed. However, unlike previous years I now get biblesync directly to my email account. Although, I don't check it very often, the past two days I have and God has pulled out the stoppers with some brilliant passages.

Tuesday 8th January 

At some point during the day, it hit me that I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get through the remainder of the week. On Monday afternoon I had my first exam, the only one I had revised for (so far) and it hadn't gone as well as I'd like. So whilst procrastinating I decided to check my email account and see what the biblesync passages were for that day, and the following is one of them: 

Matthew 6:25-34: Do Not Worry

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

Matthew 6:25-27

Pretty good! It was really helpful for me to be reminded that despite everything that was going on, despite me feeling that these exams where the most important thing in the world, that God has the situation in control. And he knows exactly what I'm going to do in my life, and he's going to make sure I get the grades to do that. So instead of fretting, I need to remember that God knows everything because he created everything! And at the end of the day, my trust needs to be in him, not my own academic success. Because, life is so much more than work, life is about living. I also really like the translation in The Message:

"There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body" and I can imagine, far more to knowledge than intelligence.

Because, at the end of the day, God isn't interested in how clever you are, but what you've learnt in life, and how those lessons have changed you.

Wednesday 9th January

Yesterday I had sore red eye, and by this morning it was swollen, so my lovely housemate told me that I had to go to the doctors because it was infected. So, at 9 am this morning I headed off to campus....and it wasn't until 10:40 that I arrived at the library, very frustrated that I had 'wasted' over and hour and a half at the doctors and annoyed that I had got conjunctivitis. Anyway, like yesterday I logged into my email account and this the first line read:

"LORD my God, I take refuge in you;

save and deliver me from all who purse me."

Psalm 7:1

It wasn't what I needed to pray exactly, whilst what was pursing me wasn't people (which is what David sang about) it was my emotions, and yet I still needed saving from them. I needed to me reminded (yet again) that I couldn't relay on myself, I have to relay on God, I have to admit my weaknesses and take refuge in him. And so I have. And God has answered, he has saved me from my emotions, and I feel calmness and I am confident that when I sit my exam this evening, God will be with me, sitting alongside me, as he is in every part of my life.

God bless x