Trials

Wellm it's not actually trials, it's the FINALS. CAL has started their AS and A2, and SAM is starting soon. Just posting this up to remind you guys, those of you who are burning the midnight oil, squeezing in last-minute past year papers, cramming in a year's worth of studies into several hours, hoping to regurgitate it perfectly the next morning, SLOW DOWN.

Take a moment to remember that it's not always possible to do all this by ourselves. We can push push push ourselves, "Ok I'm going to stay up till 5 a.m. to study!" and then fall asleep at 11 p.m. We can get ourselves fully prepared for a paper over the weekend, but then have a stomachache during the paper. Or to concentrate on one topic, only to sit for the paper and discover that it doesn't come out at all.

That very thing happened to a new friend of mine. She was a bright student, all prepared for her AS paper in the morning, when over the night she developed some stomach pain. By daybreak, it was so unbearable she had to call her mom to bring her to the hospital. The doctors discovered a tumour in her stomach and she had to undergo surgery to have it removed. She missed the rest of her papers so that she can recover from her surgery.

And I know she's not the only one. Many of us experience these things, where things just don't happen the way we'd like it to. Studying hard for an exam, but getting crap exams after that? I'm sure most of us are quite used to that situation. Being careless on an exam. Mis-reading an essay question and you get a big fat red egg on your paper. Forgetting your pencil lead and the examiner refuses to let you borrow someone else's during an objective paper. Getting a cacat-ed question paper where the last page wasn't printed, and you didn't realise till the last 2 minutes. Man, these things happen.

Basically, what I'm saying is, things don't go according to plan all the time. Not that God means ill of us, but sometimes, these things happen to remind us, hey you're getting a bit ahead of yourself eh? Exams exams exams. Is it worth putting your church aside? Your health? Friends? Family? Things just happen, and rather than cursing and cussing away, there's plenty we can learn from all this. Learn to let go and let God. I remember this Malay saying, "Manusia hanya merancang, Tuhan yang menentukan segalanya" which basically says that we can plan all we want, but what happens ultimately is in God's hands.

I'll end with some verses I'm sure most of you are familiar with, but it's still a verse that provides me with comfort on nights before exams.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

God bless ya guys! And all the best!