Stress From Exams

The current school holiday week marks the start to an examination semester and it is the most important semester for every students (excluding Poly, ITE and Uni). As I'm writing, I believed some are already having alot on their mind!

Results, holiday homeworks, project deadlines (Oh man, I know that word!), expectations to meet and the examination dates itself seem to be the various source of the worry!

And to meet the deadlines, expectations from peers and to even achieve the results, we all simply work, work and work! From burning midnight oils to camping in a medicine library (Pastor Jason said it's the best place to study...), all we do is work and wait to be stressed up!

I read many news reports of how students prematurely ended their lives due to the stress they faced in schools - the youngest I read is a 12 year-old girl. Some reports are of students, who used to do so well in school, are now drinking their lives, clubbing away, without wanting to give a care on anything anymore. Why? Stress!

They are tired from all the toil, sick from all the lack of sleep, fearful of all the scolding they get if they don't do well, hurt when their peers did better than them! Now, they are either wasting their lives away, or throwing it.

Brothers, sisters, are you facing stress today? Are you weary? Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to just slack and do nothing! I'm not saying you will have intelligence without diligence.

Recalling Pastor Jason's message titled "Don't Worry, Be Happy", the source of stress may be this or that, BUT the stressor is actually you. Your mind is filled with this and that while studying, and you get even much more stressed up when your mind comes to your assumed outcomes.

"Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." Psalm 55:22 NASB

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest...For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28, 30 NASB

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Philippians 4:6 NASB

Guys (& gals), cast everything to Him, take some time off from studies to meet with Him daily. Even Jesus, knowing what's coming for Him at Good Friday, seeks the Father. Cement God's word into your hearts, because in time like these, you will very well need them. What's more, keep in mind we are studying for His glory! Not good results nor meeting the expectations of another.

Again, I'm not saying you can be able to "shake your legs", work still need to be done. Through God's words, I'm saying He will give you the peace and strength you will need for your responsibility as a student for Christ.

"Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:30-31 KJV