For those who are stressed out because of exams...

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

In April/May of 2023, I was a senior at my college, West Virginia University, and I was taking an organic chemistry class. I was about to graduate and this was one of the last classes I needed to pass before graduation. The problem was that I barely had a D in the class and I needed a 62% on the final to pass the class with a D (which is not very impressive, but all I wanted was to pass the class). For the week and a half leading up to my final in the chem class, I studied my face off with my friend, India. Those days were terrible days filled with crying, and stress, and exhaustion – all because I was so worried about failing the class and having to retake the class over the summer. I didn’t have any time for a social life or friends because all I could think about was organic chemistry and studying and reviewing my notes – like I said, it was a terrible, terrible time. Two days before the final, India was over at my apartment and we were studying and reviewing our notes. The entire time I was studying with her, I could not stop thinking about how she knew so much more than me, and if I got below a 62% on the exam, I was going to have to live in Morgantown all summer and all my summer plans were going to be ruined (my plans were to be a church camp counselor at my favorite Bible camp from when I was a kid).

But here we are, sitting in my apartment studying, and I eventually reach a point where I just could not study anymore. I couldn’t review the study guides or learn any new information or do practice problems because I was so emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted. And India is sitting beside me while I’m telling her that I just can’t do it anymore and she is just freaking out on my behalf.

First of all, she’s wondering how I was even able to reach a point where I just didn’t care anymore – and just to be clear, I cared about the class, I just couldn’t waste any more time worrying about it. Secondly, she was wondering how I seemed so peaceful and at rest during these particular moments. And I told her that I had reached a point where I knew that this was all I could do and that I had to let God carry me the rest of the way. I was so tired of feeling that awful feeling of worry and anxiety. I know that I could’ve studied more during those next two days, but my body and mind could not handle it anymore. I had accepted whatever outcome God had chosen for me and I completely left it in His hands. It was a moment where I truly humbled myself before the Lord.

During this time, I kept going back to Proverbs 3:5-6 where the Lord tells us to not lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways, to acknowledge Him and He will straighten our paths! I knew I could not lean on my own knowledge at this point, and I knew that my mind was so exhausted that I couldn’t lean on that either. I also knew that I have a borrowed mind and body. These things are not mine; it’s by the grace of God that I am able to learn and have knowledge and function well enough to understand organic chemistry at all. I had officially reached a point where I couldn’t do it anymore and I needed God’s help more than anything.

This was such a wonderful moment, however, because I was able to feel the God's peace flow throughout my body. The second I gave it all up, God filled my soul with the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

What’s crazy is that I am the kind of person who will worry and stress and exhaust herself until the event is over. But God calmed me and spoke to me in a way that I have never really encountered before. And He helped me accept whatever outcome the future had in store.

What’s even crazier is that I ended up getting a 63% on the final exam and I didn’t have to retake the class. We got our grades back when I was at Myrtle Beach with some of my friends from the campus ministry group I was a part of at WVU. We were all sitting at a restaurant and my grade popped up on the website and I celebrated like I had never celebrated before, and it felt wonderful that my closest friends were there to celebrate with me!

What’s even MORE amazing is that God used that semester of struggle and despair to bring a new friend into my life. India and I only started to get close about halfway through the semester when we were randomly assigned to be lab partners one day. I have the personality where if I am going to be spending a lot of time with someone, I HAVE to get to know them, whether it’s at work, or in classes, or in labs. I despise the thought of working with a stranger. But India and I hit it off immediately and I ended up inviting her to my apartment to study for exams and quizzes. While we studied, I would talk about the campus ministry group I was in called BCM (Baptist Campus Ministry). I was a small group leader in the club and I LOVED every moment of it. India was so responsive to my stories about BCM and she ended up asking me a lot of questions about God. I loved answering her questions about the Bible and Christianity and God and faith, among others things. It was so beautiful to watch her faith grow as she gained answers for some of her questions. One day, I got to tell her about salvation and the gospel and what Jesus had done for us, and while we were studying the next day, she leaned over and told me that she had accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Praise God! I told her that her name was written in the Book of Life and that nothing could erase her name from eternity with Jesus. I’ll cherish that moment forever and I’ll always remember the smiles we exchanged with each other.

To summarize everything God had done for the Kingdom through me and my time in chemistry class, He:

-       Grew my faith in Him by putting me through a trial

-       Helped me humble myself so that He could work through me

-       Helped me lean on Him rather than lean on my own knowledge

-       Saved the soul of a good friend and wrote her name in the Book of Life

-       Gave me some amazing memories that I will cherish forever

This post is for people who might be in college or high school and you're taking classes and you're so stressed and anxious about your grades. Don’t lean on your own understanding. You have a borrowed mind and you can only do so much before you have to give it to God. Work hard, but don’t put it all on yourself. That’s not what you were made to do; you were made to cast your cares on Him because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)!