Life is the toughest exam out there. Not because the content is necessarily complex, but because every single person gets a different set of questions.
We spend years in school being told that looking at someone else’s paper is cheating. But then we hit adulthood and suddenly we can’t stop. We’re constantly peering over at what our neighbor is doing, assuming they have the secret and we’re just guessing. We look at their milestones and our struggles and their speed and our slow start. It feels like a competition we’re losing.
But here is the real issue: they are sitting for a totally different test.
Maybe their paper is about building a career while yours is about building character. Theirs might be about money and yours is about resilience or finding peace. You’re trying to compare a poetry exam to a physics paper. Of course the equations don’t match.
The only real way to pass this life is authenticity.
If you copy what others do, you aren’t actually answering the questions life put in front of you. You end up living a script meant for someone else. And let’s be honest—all the applause in the world doesn’t fix that empty feeling of living a life that isn’t yours.
Ephesians 2:10 says we are handiwork, created for specific good works prepared in advance. That word “handiwork” actually means a masterpiece. It isn’t a carbon copy or some mass-produced model. You are a one-of-a-kind original. Your soul was given a specific set of challenges for a reason.
Look at Psalm 1. It describes people who thrive as trees planted by a riverbank. One thing to notice here—trees don’t look around to see if the oak or the willow is growing faster. A tree just stands where it’s planted and waits for its own season to bear fruit. The roots are deep. The timing is internal. Your season is yours and yours alone.
Struggle doesn’t mean you’re failing. It just means you’re actually dealing with your specific paper. The detours and the delays aren’t distractions—they are the actual curriculum. Your pace is fine because it’s your pace.
So maybe it’s time to stop looking at the next desk over. Stop worrying about their answers. They don’t have your assignment and they don’t have to answer your questions.
You don’t fail by making mistakes. You fail by never writing your own answers in the first place.
Read your paper. Be honest. Show the work. Trust that the One who wrote the test knows exactly what you can handle. Jeremiah 29:11 talks about plans to prosper you and give you a future. Those plans are specific. They aren’t for the person next to you; they’re for you. Your future was never meant to look like theirs.
Today, just stop the comparing. Start answering.
Your paper is yours alone, and that’s actually your best advantage.
Thanks for reading. Sehabbat Shalom! Wishing you a peaceful and restful Shabbat.
E. A. Randolph-Koranteng
…A Servant of Christ….
