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

Thoughts on Jonah

Last week whilst I was sat in the service, a thought pop into my head. There is a fairly impressive miracle in this book which isn't really mentioned. Jonah gets swallowed by a huge fish, and survives for three days in a stomach of a whale.

How did he survive the stomach acid or more importantly the lack of oxygen for three days?

In Matthew 12:40, Jesus says:

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

As Jesus clearly believes that Jonah was:

• Swallowed by a huge fish
• Was there for 3 days
  Survived the ordeal

I think that we also should believe it, therefore (from my admittedly limited research and knowledge about huge fish) I’ve come to the conclusion that surviving the ordeal was in equally impressive miracle on God’s behalf to providing the fish to swallow Jonah and then vomiting him onto dry land. And therefore, this story can be one of encouragement and hope to us today.

Whilst today in our lives we're not likely to be swallowed by a giant fish, we're are likely to be in places that really pretty tough. Places where we get to rock bottom, and can't see any favourable way out (let's be honest being vomited onto a beach isn't great but is considerably better than the other option), places where we can't see a way of surviving let alone thriving.

If God stepped into to prevent Jonah from dying, he can step into the situations we find ourselves in today and will help us survive. As Christians we should expect life to get tough in places, and therefore when survival seems challenging remember these words of Jesus from John 16:33:

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

We believe in a God who has immense powers, who can control the natural world. But that same God came to this earth and went through suffering greater than we can imagine by dying on a cross. So when we go through suffering we can cry out to a God who understands and goes through our suffering with us, and we can take hope that Jesus has beaten death and will one day return in glory.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Fear of the Lord

It’s very easy to remember that God loves us. We regularly read about it, hear sermons about it and tell each other it. But does this love cause us to respond by burning up in love back to God? Or do we box God down into a more manageable God? Does knowing God's love for us lead to a desire to repent? To do a 180° turn, on those parts of our lives which we know aren't right, that aren't godly. I know I regularly confess (but not repent) to sins which are "only little" or "just a natural response" to a situation. This confession doesn't lead to repentance because, I perceive the sins as "only small", so I don't ask God to change my thought paths. I don't do a 180° turn, because I know God will forgive me because he loves me. 

How often do we use this love as an excuse not to truly repent? To merely confess and then keep going on in the same direction as before. And I wonder how much of this is coming from a lack of fear of God. We remember so many of God’s attractive characteristics that we forget that HE IS GOD. As in GOD, when was the last time you actually thought about what the word God meant. 

I’m currently doing the Soul Survivor Bible in a year, and a couple of weeks ago there were two passages from the old testament which really challenge my perception of God.

This first one was from Psalm 18:7-13

“The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook; 

they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him--

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded”

That challenged my perception of God. Big time. This wasn’t a loving Father figure, which God is, but this is a powerful God, burning with a righteous anger. An anger which I am saved of because of his love, and yet I continue to live in sin, confessing but never really repenting of the sins which angers him. Why aren’t I willing to repent, to turn back to God and walk away from my sins. Is it because I don’t fear him? When I read a passage like the one above I do. And whilst I’m fearing him due to the imagery involved, the power of God, I think my fear needs to go deeper, this shouldn’t be a terrified fear but a fear which invokes me to respect him, to live in awe of him and to grow in my submission of him.

The second passage helps me to do this more. It is quite a large passage it only started off as a few verses from the NIV which spoke to me about creation, but when I read the passage in the The Message translation the whole passage made more sense but just seemed to shout out at me about the power and majesty of God. So here is the majority of Job 38 and I’ve annotated again the parts which really blew my mind about God.

Where were you when I created the earth? 

Tell me, since you know so much!

Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that!

Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?

How was its foundation poured,

and who set the cornerstone, 

While the morning stars sang in chorus 

and all the angels shouted praise? 

And who took charge of the ocean 

when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb? 

That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds, 

and tucked it in safely at night. 

Then I made a playpen for it, 

a strong playpen so it couldn’t run loose, 

And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place. 

Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.’ 

“And have you ever ordered Morning, ‘Get up!’ 

told Dawn, ‘Get to work!’ 

So you could seize Earth like a blanket 

and shake out the wicked like cockroaches? 

As the sun brings everything to light, 

brings out all the colors and shapes, 

The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked-- 

they’re caught in the very act! 

Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things, 

explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean? 

Do you know the first thing about death? 

Do you have one clue regarding death’s dark mysteries? 

And do you have any idea how large this earth is? 

Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer. 

Do you know where Light comes from

and where Darkness lives

So you can take them by the hand

and lead them home when they get lost?

Why, of course you know that. 

You’ve known them all your life, 

grown up in the same neighborhood with them! 

Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, 

seen the vault where hail is stockpiled, 

The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness 

for times of trouble and battle and war? 

Can you find your way to where lightning is launched, 

or to the place from which the wind blows? 

Who do you suppose carves canyons 

for the downpours of rain, and charts 

the route of thunderstorms 

That bring water to unvisited fields, 

deserts no one ever lays eyes on, 

Drenching the useless wastelands 

so they’re carpeted with wildflowers and grass? 

And who do you think is the father of rain and dew, 

the mother of ice and frost? 

You don’t for a minute imagine 

these marvels of weather just happen, do you? 

“Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters, 

or distract Orion from his hunt? 

Can you get Venus to look your way, 

or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play? 

Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations 

and how they affect things on Earth? 

“Can you get the attention of the clouds, 

and commission a shower of rain? 

Can you take charge of the lightning bolts 

and have them report to you for orders?"

I find that passage really makes me consider God afresh. Despite it being several thousand years since Job was written, we (as humanity) are still no closer to knowing how the world was created. And yet God knows. Why? Because he dreamt it all up, he designed it and at his word it came into being. God commands Day and Night, the weather, controls the constellations (that section is even more powerful in the NIV) he knows about everything. And yet, how often do we box him up, to do things in our own strength. THIS IS THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE and we’re saying to him, just stay there God, I’ve got this sorted. If we box God up we’re not going to grow in a righteous fear of him, we going to stay in a happy, comfortable place safe in God’s love, but not fully realise who God is.

He is a God who loves, the perfect Father, but he is some much more than that so why do we so often limit God the Father to just that? He is a God we can’t even start to get our heads around. He is power and righteousness. He is a creator and he designed you and me. He is justice and salvation. He is so much more than we could ever understand so next time you remember that God loves you, remember just who that God is.

(This blog was originally posted on www.belfreystudents.org/blog)

Too far to fall

As I cycled home from Uni, I decided the sensible way to cross the road to my house would be via the zebra  crossing. Unfortunately my bike decided to stay on the road and well, we both landed on the floor. As I got up, and did the embarrassed look around, I realised that it had been a long time since I had fallen over and a scene from 'The Duchess' came to mind.

After one of the Duchess's girls has fallen over, Lady Bess remarks: "Up and down, up and down. Why can't we recover like that?" To which Georgiana replies "It's too far to fall now."

And she's right, how often before we start something new do we consider the consequences rather than jumping straight in and risking failure - a fall? As a child I'd be eager to put my hand up and answer a question, more excited about being picked then whether I was right. But, now I have to know I'm right before I even consider answering. And I wonder, does this attitude of not wanting to take the risk affected my life in other ways, am I too afraid of falling to take the risk of ending in a better place?

I know it's true in my faith, I like the pattern of reading books I've read before, and know I agree with, I don't like to be too challenged in my faith. But, there have been times when I have been, like when I discovered the true value of the Holy Spirit and then God's grace, and I wouldn't turn the clock back on that change if I had the chance.

So, I ask you, what have you turned your back on because you're too afraid of the answer?
And if you have turned your back on something, is it something that other people value, like having a faith. And if you did, is it time to re-examine it? Find out why. Because somethings in life are too important to ignore, and I say religion is one of those things.