Grace for Studies

This is an account of my studying years, times that hold a lot of bittersweet memories.

When I was in my secondary school years, I was in a very competitive environment. I was in one of the top classes in school and naturally, everyone was competing with one another. It was all about marks, all about academic, so much so that it didn't matter whether you really know what we were studying, as long as you do well during exams.

For me, I was considered average -- I was not outstanding among the top-scorers of my class, nor was I very active in curriculum activities. I could be labelled as 'insignificant'.

Those years, I was not very enthusiastic about studies. I found it a bore, a burden rather than an interest. But things took a turn when I started tertiary education in KL.

I accepted Christ when I had an encounter with God after a few weeks in KL. I was very touched by God’s love and in His presence, I received Jesus as my personal Saviour and Lord. At that point, what I understood was that the Lord loves me and is interested in my life, that He will bless me in all things.

However, I did not immediately connect this with receiving blessings for my studies, until I was approaching my first semester final exams.

It was a very stressful time because it was the first time I was sitting for a college exam. Yet, as I continued to study the final exams, I realised that God was with me in all the time, assuring me and giving me peace of heart. As I prayed to Him, He was constantly with me -- when I studied and memorised all the important facts, when I felt that I could not stuff my brain with more information, when I went into the examination hall, and even after the exams.

Initially, I thought I was just going to get an ordinary, average kind of results, but it turned out that I scored 4.0. I was so surprised and happy, and more than anything else, I was very thankful to God and I gave Him praise.

Since my first semester, I have scored many other 4.0s over the span of four years of studying in KL. Many of my friends thought that I was a very hardworking or smart person, but I knew that it was not by my own effort. It was all by God’s grace.

There were times when I was not able to finish studying, but it turned out that I could still do the paper and scored better grades than my friends who studied more than I did. I remembered those times when I cried out to God in desperate and earnest prayers, when I decided in my heart to rely on nothing else but Him alone. As I put my trust in Him, I sat through the exam with peace and joy.

John 15:5 says “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.” Truly, I couldn't have done it without His strength and help.