Value in Experience

Hi my Name is Karli, I am the worship Leader here at the church and I’ve been in ministry for a while now. It honestly feels like my whole life. Today I will be bringing you the blog for A Touch Of Salt. When I was asked to share something on the blog, one subject really stuck out to me, “The Value of Experience”.
I immediately began to ponder on all the seasons the Lord had taken me through and to this day is still taking me through. There were good and sometimes very difficult times, but in each of those seasons it brought growth through experience. So I wanted to share a few things with you all that may encourage you to keep moving forward through whatever season of life you might be in right now with the Lord.
First thing is first, “The Lord's ways are not our own (Isaiah 55:8-9)”. There have been many experiences the Lord has taken me through that I’ve asked Him in that very moment “What is happening Lord, what am I doing here, why would you tell me to do this, someone else would be way more qualified for this task, Lord this is not what I thought it was going to be”, including different experiences: ministry schools, kids ministry, youth, outreach, and even working overseas on the mission field. I was called to people that I didn’t even know their language. I came to realize on this life journey that the Lord just wants our “YES” and He will do the rest, and we will grow in experiential knowledge and not just head knowledge. In 2nd Peter chapter 1 it talks about two different types of knowledge, Ginosko- which is knowledge, and Epiginosko-which is experiential knowledge. He doesn’t just want the knowledge to stay in your head but He wants you to put it into action on a personal level. I could type all day testimony after testimony but the only way you will fully know is if you step out and get experience yourself. Exodus 29:45-46 God said, “I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God and they will know (personal experience) that I am the Lord their God who brought them forth out of the Land of Egypt that I might dwell among them”.
The next question is how do we grow in our experience? People have different opinions, some would say by studying the subject they want to know about, or to gain knowledge and wisdom in, is all you need. For example, if I wanted to be a doctor I would have to study, but studying without action would be a waste of (going out and applying for the actual job) my knowledge and I wouldn’t help anyone as a doctor. Other people would say it's by experience only, but using that same example  I wouldn’t want to be that “doctors” first experience. I want an experienced doctor but I wouldn’t want Him without the knowledge of whatever element that I am being seen for because it would be interesting to be his first patient. Haha! We need both. So I guess you can say “Knowledge” is only so deep until it’s partnered with “experience”.  So we can study the Word and grow in our understanding but if we never put it into practice, do we really have faith? If I’m in the middle of a flood and I have a boat and I say “yeah, I believe this boat would carry me to a safe place” but I never got in it, I would drown. If we are never brave enough to step out and put our knowledge into action, what good are we? Do we really believe what we say? If I truly believe that the boat would save me then you better believe I would be paddling right on out of there and taking people with me out of that situation! Stepping out in faith and getting in the boat, we have unimaginable experiences with the Lord that creates a foundation within us through any situation. This will help us grow into the sons the Lord has called us to be (James 1:2-4). So when we are obedient to the Lord, He makes all the “Whys” more clear as we go but we have to be willing to take the first steps. ​

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