Andy Stanley in his book “Next Generation Leader”, which I highly recommend, says something like this, your test of character is never the big exam that you cram for the night before the defining day. Most often your test of character always comes in the form of a pop quiz!
There is a stark difference between the two. For the major exam, you cram things into your cranium up to the last minute in hopes that your brain will be able to do the “total recall” of information that is necessary to answer the questions correctly by making the right choices. The pop quiz is totally different. You have no time to cram, to re-educate, gather more information, or to realign your thoughts. No, for the pop quiz you have to go with what you know and the decisions and choices you make will be determined by what you have been putting into your brain over the course of time. There is no time to fake it. What you have taken the time to infuse into your brain will come out in the pop quiz.
Your test of character almost always comes in this way. A defining moment where you only have moments to react and make a decision and act upon your predetermined ideals and values that you have formed in your life over the course of time. A pop quiz never catches you off guard, it only reveals what is actually there. So always make sure that you are instilling the right thoughts and values into your heart, for at that defining moment, your ability to ace the quiz is dependent on values and ideals that you have purposefully instituted in your life. And as all good professors say, you better be ready for the pop quiz. In the realm of the test of your character, it will be 100% of your grade.
D.O.V.E.