The Sabbath Test

When I was a teenager, God became a friend to me who would never betray or deceive, unlike earthly friends. I saw God’s hand in my life when I had to choose between my future education and faith. In eleventh grade, I needed to take exams to get a certificate. I prayed throughout the year that the exams would not be set on Saturday. However, I learned that all exams would be on Saturday.

I was very upset but decided to trust God.

I tried to study well so that the teachers would allow me to take the exam on another day. Once in a geometry lesson, a teacher called me to the blackboard and asked me to do a sum. After I had done the sum, she told me, “You have done everything right, and I’ll give you the best mark. But you must understand that you are ruining your future. You won’t be able to find a job where you won’t have to work on Saturdays. You will not be able to study at the university; you will simply fail all the exams.” Everyone around me thought that I was going to make the wrong choice. Sometimes I thought, What if my teachers and classmates are right? What if I don’t achieve anything in life? All my relatives are believers, but even they told me that there would be nothing wrong if I took the exam on Saturday. I prayed a lot and decided that I would be faithful to God to the end and trust Him to take care of me and my future. On the Saturday of the exam, I went to church and tried to focus on the service. After worship, the headmistress of our school called my father. After a short conversation, my father said, “Masha, you can pass the exams on other days. They will try to make sure that the authorities of our city won’t know about this.” Hearing this, I almost burst into tears of joy. God heard my prayers! I was able to pass all the exams and received a certificate. I am grateful to God for all those difficulties because I learned to trust Him. I was also able to testify to the whole school and teachers about God. It may be easier to live in the world, where you do not need to defend your principles, but in fact, God wants us to be salt and light, even if other people do not understand you and see no point in your commitments.

Khametova Mariia Sergeevna