Completing the A-Levels surely brings a sense of relief and accomplishment for many. Finally, a well-deserved break after all that mugging!

But in this transition, it can also be easy to get carried away with all sorts of things.

From one A-Level graduate to another, here are a few suggestions on how to navigate this new season, enjoy it and emerge stronger with God.

Recalibrate with God: Don’t rush to do everything

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

If you’re antsy and already worrying about the future, I’d like to encourage you to bring your concerns to God.

Internships, part-time jobs and volunteering might all sound fancy — and there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be fruitful this holiday — but don’t pursue these things from a place of insecurity.

Don’t get caught up with where your friends are applying to for university either. Constant comparison will only leave you more tired and helpless.

Instead, get caught up with where God wants you to be in your current season. Ask Him for wisdom and direction, and let His peace guide and guard you.

After all, what if God isn’t calling you to the conventional pursuits of interning or working, but to missions or Bible school? 

Perhaps the Lord is calling you to reconnect with your family or friends who have struggled a great deal through the A-Levels. 

Or maybe the Lord is calling you to a season of rest. You won’t know what it is God is calling you to do until you listen and hear from Him.

Ultimately, it’s alright if your path looks a little different from others. The most important thing is to follow God and steward whatever He has given you faithfully! 

Receive forgiveness (and give it too): Don’t hold on to your hurts

Maybe you did not enjoy junior college all that much. After all, we all have that classmate who always asks around for homework answers or that teammate who ghosts when a project deadline nears.

Or maybe your friend group didn’t work out the way you thought it would; in a stress-filled environment, conflicts arise all too easily.

No matter what your journey has been, let’s choose to surrender these painful experiences to the Lord.

Ask God to help us forgive those who have hurt us. Ask Him also for the grace to ask those we have hurt for forgiveness.

For those who have experienced things even worse than bad teammates — like bullying or slander, for instance — forgiving might seem so difficult.

But before you sweep this horrible season under the rug, would you allow God to do a restorative work in you? You deserve closure to this chapter.

Jesus knows your journey, and He has seen you through all this while. Trust that our Father won’t leave you broken. There is nothing He cannot heal.

Let’s not carry our grievances on to the next season. Instead, let’s journey with the Lord process these things with His help. 

Ask God to help us forgive those who have hurt us. Ask Him also for the grace to ask those we have hurt for forgiveness.

In Christ, we can find the strength and courage to forgive and let go of the hurt. Only then can we experience true healing.

Community is also important, so find a few trusted brothers and sisters-in-Christ to journey with you in this season of healing and restoration.

With continual encouragement from your spiritual family and a constant surrendering of hurts to the Lord, I’m sure you will be able to experience healing.

Rebuild spiritual habits: Don’t fill your life with stuff that can’t satisfy

If you’ve always wanted to grow deeper in your spiritual life but somehow never got around to doing it, this is your chance to cultivate some habits that will change your life.

Looking back, my own break after my A-Levels was foundational in my spiritual life.

I somehow had always held the assumption that my spiritual life would soar after some great, supernatural encounter with God.

It was during the circuit breaker period, which meant that I was stuck at home with nothing to do. Watching movies soon grew tiring and it made me feel emptier.

Eventually, I decided to get my spiritual life together since it was hypocritical of me to encourage my cell members to read the Bible if I wasn’t first leading the way.

It was definitely no coincidence then, how my mother found a brand new Bible while cleaning the house. She passed it to me since everyone in the family already had their own hard copy of the Bible.

Tired of how empty and hypocritical I was feeling, I flipped open the Bible one day and I began to read the Psalms.

That marked the start of a season in which I grew to see just how much wisdom was stored in God’s Word. I saw how the psalmist approached God, and I was touched when some of his cries echoed mine.

Day after day, I journalled what I learnt from the Psalms and how God was speaking to me. I also began to read up commentaries when I couldn’t understand certain parts of the Bible.

On the days when I did not feel like reading the Bible, I prayed and asked God for strength to persist.

Until that season, I somehow had always held the assumption that my spiritual life would soar after some great, supernatural encounter with God.

But I realised that spiritual growth takes intentionality, and building my relationship with God takes time.

In that nine-month break, I’m glad that God fanned into flames a love for His Word. He helped me recognise how precious the Bible is in teaching me how to live — in showing me who I am in Him and who He is.

He taught me to prioritise time spent with Him above all else.

Because I learnt all these precious lessons in that season, I’ve learnt not to neglect my quiet time especially now that I’m in university and things are always busy.

This habit has anchored me through many tough semesters and kept me grounded in God.

I pray that you will also take this opportunity to build up some spiritual disciplines that bring you closer to God, such as reading the Word, prayer or even fasting.

God is definitely worth pursuing with your entire heart, soul, mind and strength!

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)

Whatever you do in the coming months, my prayer is that you do it together with God.

May you embrace this new season and emerge rooted in God, blooming wherever He has planted you!