Me and Who ElseVoorbeeld

LIFE IS AN EXAM There were a lot of times that I was alone in life, including appearances for tests and exams. While I did indulge in combined studies with friends, I had to do the tests and exams all by myself. Yet, I did not feel alone because my classmates were also doing it concurrently with me. But, the distinct thought of being alone occurred to me when I had to appear for an exam in the second year of my engineering course. All my classmates had cleared it and I was the only one who had a backlog with this paper. My friend, Bala, helped me study for the paper, as he did with all other subjects. But when I was walking up to the exam hall, it hit me: I am doing this all alone. There were 25 other candidates in the exam hall taking their exams, but they were not taking the test that I was taking. I was alone. There will be times in your life when you will be alone, owing to your responsibilities, problems, relationships, position or just situations beyond your control. Let us not mistake ‘being alone’  for ‘loneliness’. You could be in the middle of a hundred people and still feel lonely, and feel that no one is for or with you in what you are going through. It is not wrong to feel so. Remember, Christ himself felt lonely and abandoned on the cross, and cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46). And, this was despite knowing, volunteering. and preparing for that moment. It will hit you harder when you are not prepared for circumstances that you least expect. But what can get you through is the same God who was with Christ and brought Him up victorious from death, once it had served the purpose of the sacrifice. When you feel lonely and incapacitated, look up to God and ask Him not to take away the difficulty but to walk to with you, reveal the purposes that He has for you, and lead you to victory. Hebrews 13:5 carries His promise – ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ You may be alone but are never lonely as long as you have Jesus in your life. Santhosh Vennamalla Counsellor