Turning Points in Spiritual Growth December 24, 2018 Issue

God’s love erases failure

Emily Wickham

It was the night before my final examination for Contracts Law, and I was sitting on my bedroom floor, feeling completely desperate. I knew I was not ready for the exam, and I felt that any last-minute studying I did would be pointless.

When grades had come out the previous semester, I was shocked to find out that I had received one of the lowest grades in this class. The course is split over the fall and spring semesters, and each student’s grade for the class is based entirely on the final exam at the end of each semester. After receiving that low grade on the exam at the end of the fall semester, I had vowed to work especially hard in the spring. But there I was the night before the exam, having not taken any extra steps to prepare myself. As I sat there in my room, I felt completely panicked and ashamed. I was angry at myself, and felt I didn’t deserve to be in law school.

I had been raised in the Christian Science Sunday School, but Christian Science wasn’t a significant part of my life at this time. However, in that moment, I decided I had no other choice than to pray. I opened my Bible at random and saw these words on the page: “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.” Immediately, my fear started to subside, and I read the next few verses: “Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.… Therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth” (Psalms 31:1–5).

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