Faith vs. Experience

A few years ago after taking hands-on training in evangelism, I had an opportunity to present the gospel to a woman I had met and befriended through answering an ad. She was needy and had some spiritual background. My evangelism mentors told me that I had a good grasp of how to tell someone about Jesus Christ so I went into the conversation with confidence.

God opened my eyes that day. The first lesson was that as soon as I began talking it was as if I forgot every bit of training that I’d been given. I messed up the entire thing, became very unsure of what I was doing, and was certain that this woman did not understand one word that I was trying to say.

The second lesson was at the end of the conversation; the woman wanted to become a Christian! I was astonished. This was a bigger learning experience than all the prior weeks of training. I found out the difference between my abilities and God’s power. Paul summarized it in these verses . . .

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:1–4).

That day, the big difference between Paul and my experience was that Paul knew beforehand that his words and lofty speaking ability were not reliable. He already knew that the only power that can open hearts and transform them is the power of the Holy Spirit. For me, my attempt to speak in my own “excellent ability” should have resulted in failure, but God simply thwarted and removed what I could do and stepped into its place.

I learned from that day’s experience that God does exceedingly abundantly above all that I can ask or imagine. But there is more to this lesson. Any time that I try to put my clear knowledge of the way of salvation above confidence in the power of the Gospel, I will hinder others from knowing the reality of God’s saving power. When I rely on the clearness of my speaking or teaching, I cannot expect God’s blessing. When I rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s redemptive power, He can create His life in the hearts of others.

Yet there is more. Any learning from experience can also be unreliable, even the lessons described above. The reason for this is that experiences can change. I could share my faith with another person and do a poor job of it with the result that person turns and mocks me. This reverses what happened on that profound teaching experience. It also shows me that I need to rely on the Word of God. He says that in myself I can do nothing; only the power of Christ can reach and save souls. I need to be rooted in that reality because it is based on His Word. My experiences can go one way or another and upset my faith if I base it on them instead of what God says.

Nothing can upset God or the reality of His Redemption. If I base my faith on Him and His power, then I am secure and cannot be moved. If I base my faith on “this happened to me” then my faith is shakeable.

Human experience can be a great teacher, but if I cling to my experiences, I can become closed to the teaching of the Bible. I must give all that happens to me to God and let Him do with it as He wills, remembering that I walk by faith and not by what I can see or by what happens to me.

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Last night, I was praying about a particular experience and how I should deal with it. Lord, You lined up today’s devotional reading so that I could understand the limited value of experiences. If I make choices based on them, I could be right, but I could also be in error. Far better to make choices based on Your eternal Word.

In this case, my choice is clear. I’m to act in faith, trusting You. If I base my actions on my experience, the outcome could be a disaster. Thank You for directing me. Sticking to faith in You is always the best choice.