Exam Day

I want to share a few things about my day yesterday, but first, I need to tell you how I react to exams (as in a final class exam). I have always been the kind of person who scurries home after an exam to have some quiet alone time.

After I finished, for example, an actuarial exam (if you don’t remember from prior devotions, actuarial exams might cover more than 1,000 pages of information where I had 4 hours to respond in essay format), I would run home, empty my book bag and watch Bugs Bunny cartoons to decompress. Bugs Bunny, I found, was something I could watch or not as mindless TV.

Yesterday wasn’t as bad. I had my exam at 1:00 p.m., which lasted less than half an hour, and I was able to run an errand.  I felt pretty good and I want to share why.

I could have stayed home until I needed to leave to make the exam time, but that isn’t how I roll. I went to the university about 3 hours early, thinking I could relax in the student lounge and study a little before my time. I enjoy relaxing in the student lounge because, no surprise, usually there are younger students there talking. As an introvert, I enjoy listening (and sometimes participating) in young people’s conversations.  One of the students preparing for her exam was Emily.

I met Emily about two years ago. She is a talented musician and serves on the praise team at her church.  She has an outgoing and pleasant personality, and soon I heard how she was developing a fidget tool for people who play valve-based instruments (trumpet, French horn, etc). Yesterday, she showed me her fidget toy and told me it was already in several stores across many states, including a notable music store here in Topeka, and available online. I Googled when I got home and found a video of her being interviewed by a large music store chain for a product placement video.

But, I digress. I eventually went to where my exam was to be held and she was there waiting to offer moral support to another student who was about finished with his exam. The other student came out, she told him he did a great job, and they left. It was my turn, so I took my exam and left. Upon leaving, I saw she had returned and was waiting to give me moral support, as well. Honestly, she’s all of maybe 20 and we don’t have overlapping classes together as she does with other students, so I felt honored and blessed.

That’s when I realized how valuable sincere exhortation is to others. As an introvert, expressing feelings to others and recognizing their feelings is not my strength. As a manager (before I retired), that task was way harder than the technical aspects of my job and, honestly, I struggled doing it. Even in my marriage, I need to remind myself to support my wife emotionally, not because I consider it unimportant, but it just doesn’t come easy for me.

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” - 1 Timothy 4:13-15 ESV

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” - Romans 12:3-8

This morning, in my daily devotion, I read an excerpt from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. This excerpt suggested that when you acknowledge Jesus is your savior, all your sins—past, present and future—are wiped away and you are a new creation. Lewis postulated that the Christian spends the rest of his or her life making decisions that either turn him toward or away from God in his or her faith-walk.  We are always walking towards God but sometimes our decisions take us away from the straight path to him and on a more meandering path.  This too was very comforting to me seeing, more clearly every day, my inability of living my life completely the way God intended.

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

The connection we feel when we hear honest exhortation from another person pales in comparison to God waiting patiently for us to turn to him so he can move closer to us.  That is true joy!