PSLE, O-levels, A-levels…There seems to be no end to tests, exams, and studying. And yet we know that even after we’ve finished schooling, life will bring us greater trials and testing; the kind where there is no prescribed syllabus for as God leads each of us down our own unique paths.
But fear not. Our Lord has given us a textbook that we can study: The Bible! and not just a 10-year series of past exams, but thousands of years of past saints putting into practice that same textbook.
Unlike JCs and secondary schools, polytechnics and universities do not send exam scripts to the UK to be marked. Instead, the lecturer is responsible not only for teaching the material but also for setting the exam questions as well as marking (although he/she may not be able to personally mark hundreds of scripts, they are still responsible for creating marking schemes and schedules upon which their teaching assistants will follow during marking).
As the Author and Finisher of, not only our faith but also our lives, God ordains every event and occurrence for our good (Romans 12:2, 8:28). He gives us His Word and the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us through each challenge, like a university or polytechnic lecturer. He is both the patient teacher as well as the One who sets the fire through which lessons learned are forged (Job 23:10).
There is no wave function that collapses into a particle without His say so. There are no coincidences, accidents, or happenstances; just the perfect providence of lecture and the laboratory in which we live out His teachings (Phil 2:12).
While the daily grind and even our daily quiet time may become monotonous, let us remember that He prepared each day as uniquely as He has made each and every one of us (Psalm 118:24). Our God who created every quark, every atom, every inch of space-time is the same God who breathed out the scriptures for our profit.
So, have you studied?