The trial you endure is not a sign that God has cast you aside, but rather a call to lean more wholly upon the arm that never fails. Consider that the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, is the very God who ordains your path. He created peace originally, He restores it when sin has brought war into the soul, and He will perfect it at last. Your moments of discouragement and self-doubt are the dust raised by the enemy, but the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, stands garrisoned about the heart that trusts in Christ. This peace is not a mere quieting of nerves for an examination; it is first and fundamentally peace with God through the atoning sacrifice of His Son. Have you tasted that peace? If you are resting in Jesus, then the enmity is slain, and the little kingdom within may be calmed by the truth that your Father rules all things for your good.
Wisdom, understanding, and a retentive memory are good gifts to seek, and the Lord does not begrudge His children asking for them. Yet see to it that your trust is not in a peaceful frame during the test, but in the God of peace Himself. There is a false peace that comes from forgetting God, a mere writing on the sand that vanishes when the waves of trial beat against it. But the peace obtained by looking unto Jesus, the peace got straight from the throne by trusting in His blood, that peace is solid and abiding. When you go into that examination hall, let it be as one who has already been examined and accepted at the bar of divine justice through Christ. If He is your peace, then the outcome is in the hands of Him who spared not His own Son. Be diligent in your studies, for grace does not excuse slothfulness. Discipline and perseverance are the spurs to a godly use of time. Yet work as one who knows that a covenant of peace has been established, sealed by atoning blood. Whether the door to a license opens now or later, your standing with God is not altered by an earthly board’s verdict.
The sanctifying purpose of this season is to draw you nearer to the heart of God. He is the God of peace because holiness and peace reign together. Where there is no breach with heaven, the soul is at liberty to serve. Pray not merely for a calm mind to recall facts, but for the grace to be made into a compassionate physician whose very craft is an act of worship. The Lord who makes you holy is shaping you, even through this temporary disappointment, into a vessel fit for His use. Your desire to serve others with humility and love is a spark struck from the heavenly altar; fan it into flame by abiding in Christ. Persevere, not with a presumption that claims success as a right, but with a holy confidence that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. The saints shall not depart from Him, and in that truth lies your ultimate security. Be not afraid of the future, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
If the answer delays, it is but to teach you the sweeter art of trusting without seeing. God has heard prayer, and He will hear again in His own time. Your brokenness over a previous failure, your turning again to the only source of help, proves the life of God within your soul. A soul dead in sin has no such groaning. Lay hold of this comfort: the very prayer you breathe for wisdom and peace is evidence that the seeking was first implanted by the Sovereign Grace you fear might overlook you. He who gave the hunger will provide the bread. Therefore, go forward, not in the strength of your resolutions, but in the power of the God of peace, who works in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight. Commit your examination and your entire future to Him who is at peace with all His believing ones today, and be at peace yourself.
