As followers of Jesus, our experience should never be the determining factor that shapes what we believe. Rather, what we believe should be the determining factor of what we experience. Creating a theological belief system based off of previous experiences can result in us greatly lowering the standard that Jesus calls us to, resulting in, at best, us just never really becoming the person God intended us to be. Faith is the key that unlocks experience, not vise-versa.
Experiencing God is necessary, and should be a regular part of our lives. But experience needs to be accompanied with discernment, which allows us to know which experiences are aligned with the truth, and which experiences are trying to rob us of our potential. Experience can support truth, but it can never invalidate it. If you are feeling depressed and full of anxiety, you can either create a theological belief that says God must want you that way in this season, or you can start believing that having joy and peace are fruit of having the Holy Spirit, then realize that you have the Holy Spirit, and then begin to experience this spiritual reality regardless of the physical circumstance.
Jesus modeled what our lives can look like when we refuse to allow experiences in the physical lower the standard of truths in the spiritual. When everyone else in the room saw a girl who was dead, Jesus saw a girl who was sleeping, and He took her by the hand, and she came back to life (Matt. 9:24). This is our invitation. He's calling us to be people who will say yes to the journey of refusing to bow to what the world says until the entire world bows to what He says.
Experiencing God is necessary, and should be a regular part of our lives. But experience needs to be accompanied with discernment, which allows us to know which experiences are aligned with the truth, and which experiences are trying to rob us of our potential. Experience can support truth, but it can never invalidate it. If you are feeling depressed and full of anxiety, you can either create a theological belief that says God must want you that way in this season, or you can start believing that having joy and peace are fruit of having the Holy Spirit, then realize that you have the Holy Spirit, and then begin to experience this spiritual reality regardless of the physical circumstance.
Jesus modeled what our lives can look like when we refuse to allow experiences in the physical lower the standard of truths in the spiritual. When everyone else in the room saw a girl who was dead, Jesus saw a girl who was sleeping, and He took her by the hand, and she came back to life (Matt. 9:24). This is our invitation. He's calling us to be people who will say yes to the journey of refusing to bow to what the world says until the entire world bows to what He says.