Devoting time for exam success

Matthew Huish
May 1, 2012

It's that time of the year during which students across the land disappear from sight, buried in their caves – be they libraries, bedrooms or other suitable locations of study – to prepare for the tests that will grade their level of academic success: its exam season. I wish all the students in our communities the best with their exams – I hope you all get amazing results!

Nevertheless, I feel the need to get a couple of things off my chest about this topic: Firstly, I don't like the excuse I sometimes hear which goes something like this: " I'm not going to attend this Sunday's worship service because I need to prepare for an important exam this week." For me, this is a contradiction. By my logic, the success of the exam is guaranteed BY joining your church community to devote a portion of the week to God through worship. By success I refer to the attitude of the exam. The exam's success, in my opinion, will not be measured just by the percentage gained or the letter grade acquired but by the attitude of offering to God. My exam is a success if I offer it to God, if I do my best as an offering. By choosing not to go to church on Sunday morning, my fear is that, in the heart of that person, the Lord God – our Heavenly Father who created the world – has been usurped by the god of the national curriculum, the god of academic performance, the god of qualifications. Thus the first of the Ten Commandments has been disobeyed.

Please don't misunderstand, I encourage academic success. I wish that all our students get the best results possible and achieve their incredible potential. Failure to do so would equally be disappointing, as God wants to see us using the talents and skills He blessed us with in order to do amazing things. Not living up to our potential is also dishonorable.

What it means is that students need to be very organized and very balanced. They need to prioritize, and the first priority is the attitude of filial devotion to God. I'm pretty certain that most students have plenty of free time and the real question is how they choose to spend it. At certain times a student must decide to give up something for the sake of doing what is urgent or important, "sacrificing" that hobby or privilege for a higher purpose. But to "sacrifice" worship is oxymoronic, as "sacrifice" means to make something holy. By cutting out God from our lives we are losing the chance to make our work holy. I believe our studies must be holy; we should consider our exams as sacred.

Now I'm aware that we can have still cultivate an attitude of devotion towards God without going to church on Sunday – I agree, to assume that Sunday morning is the only holy time of the week is simply wrong. Nevertheless, I've become more and more convinced not only of the benefit but also of OUR NEED for regular corporate worship, gathering together with friends and family to offer to God our praise and thanks, apologizing for our mistakes and weaknesses and redetermining ourselves with renewed conviction for the next time-period in our lives. I don't want students to attend church services just because they have to, out of a sense of duty. They should attend because they passionately want to attend! If I don't see the value of worship – and it's true to say that as I grew up I did not consciously appreciate its value – then I will be less likely to cultivate the virtues of gratitude, remorse and conviction in my heart. All of which are applicable and to a student's academic progress.

The other thing I want to address is the attitude of prayer towards exams. Some students might pray, "Dear God, please help me pass this test. I know I haven't studied enough so please send some divine revelation to show me the answers!" Reported sincerely, a miracle might occur as a result of such a petition. But I wouldn't encourage students to neglect their studies who assume that because they're on God's side, God will take care of their exams for them.

Rather, I would encourage a student to pray like this at the start of the exams: "Heavenly Father, I've been working for months to prepare for this exam. This is now my opportunity to make an offering to you by performing well. I hope I can make you (and my parents and teachers) happy by getting the top grade! " This is how I prayed at the start of my exams. It reminds me of why I'm doing the exam, and helps me relax.

One last word of encouragement: When the exam supervisor announces, "You may now begin the exam," I advise you to do nothing for 30 seconds. Don't open the exam booklet. Don't lift a pen. Don't even open your eyes. Just sit in calm meditation knowing that you are more important that this exam, remembering that God loves you and you love God, and be aware not just the small exam hall in which you sit in silence but also of your position in the entire cosmos. I always found that it helps me relax and be prepared to perform to the best of my ability (according to my preparation) in that situation.

So, I hope to see all the students at church this Sunday, and I also hope you all get the best grades possible, which you can offer to God for His joy.