The classroom was thick with tension yesterday.
There were nervous signs every where you looked.
Some people had their heads deep into their notes. Others took final runs through
the Bible.
All were looking for answers to yet unasked questions.
It always gets like that at testing time.
One woman, well-beyond her teenaged years, was twirling her hair between her fingers like
a little girl.
Tears actually were coming down another student's cheeks.
Is the fear of tests unreasonable? Perhaps, but that does not make it any less real.
Then the test was passed out. It was short. Hardly took one page of paper.
But it was tough. Questions that made you think. Answers that would make your hand
cramp up before you were finished with them.
Faces clenched. Pens and pencils whirled above endless sheets of notebook paper.
Beads of sweat could be seen on many foreheads. It wasn't even that hot in the
classroom.
Time passed slowly. There was no noise. Just concentration.
The test came to a conclusion at different times for differnt people. With sighs of
relief, it was a staggered standing, walking to the front of the class, and passing the
test on to the teacher.
Afterwards, knots of students could be found in the hallways. Discussing what they
just had gone through. Wondering aloud how they did.
Just making every day through life is a test.
The world tests us, satan tests us, and even our own flesh tests us.
These are tests we can not study for. They are more like the pop quizzes we all
dreaded when we were in elementary and high school.
They come up unexpected, yet we are supposed to have the right answers.
I have found out as I get older, the tests do not get any easier. In fact, they seem
to come more frequently.
But, the advantage of age, and of the taking of many of life's tests, is that the answers
come quicker and easier.
For the answers to all of life's tests is Jesus.
If it is a test of character...look at His walk and answer, Jesus.
When it is a test of forgiveness...look at the cross as the thief was forgiven and answer,
Jesus.
When it is a test of love...look at the life He gave for the redemptin of our sins
and answer, Jesus.
See the test is already getting easier.
Tired...Jesus
Weary....Jesus
Burdened...Jesus
Confused....Jesus
Tempted....Jesus
Any test you can think of, Jesus is the answer.
I was one of those students, standing in the hallway, giving a post morten to the test I
had just gone through.
Some of the sweat that fell before, during and after the test belonged to me!
Although the tests of life are even more difficult than those prepared by man, I can face
them now with less trepidation. For the Bible gave me the answer sheet to all of
life's test and the answer is Jesus!
What's the answer class? JESUS!
