EXAM STRESS

Afew of the youth group were preparing for their GCSE exams. And they were stressing out. Their youth leader didn’t tell them off for being worried about their exams. At first he just listened. And then he had an idea.

He said to them, “Instead of saying ‘I’m worried’, stop and say the first line of Psalm 23. Then try and add, ‘So I’m worried to death’ at the end.”

The teenagers turned to that psalm and instantly laughed at how ridiculous it sounded to say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. So I’m worried to death.” His advice to them was to keep reading their Bibles every day, even with the pressure of revision, and to make time to reflect on Psalm 23. And when they felt overwhelmed, instead of saying, “I’m stressed out!” or “I’m worried!”, they should instead say the opening verse of Psalm 23 first. And then see how their worry sounded.

Later that week, the youth leader got a message from one of the teenagers who had been most stressed out. She had been worrying over a particular exam she had been dreading to take. Her message read, “As I froze with worry, I remembered to say, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd . . . so I’m afraid I’ll fail!’ Suddenly I felt the strangest peace of mind. I laughed at myself, then I took the exam—I think it went well. But it was good to be reminded that God was there with me!”