Experience…the pathway to learning

  
Written by Pst Poju Oyemade

Experience is a major part of a man’s life and it is acquired through the process of learning. When  certain things are not brought into the context of people’s personal experience they do not learn.  I have found out that  once you experience something you learn the general concepts or principles that are contained in that particular event. Through this, the individual gets wiser and teachable.  This means that God will now be able to teach you by bringing out the true revelation of that experience into your heart. Like it says in a book that the soul only imbibes truth in its living power when it requires it, therefore,  regardless of the information you have it is only when you require certain facts that the soul will be able to absorb spiritual power from the truth that it has being informed about  and this is possible only if  adequate preparation has being made for that particular moment. Learning and experience goes hand in hand because a man can only learn when he has subjective knowledge of what he requires. Only then can one say the man understands and knows where he is coming from or going to.
The road that leads to that particular experience is the focus of this article i.e. how a man truly learns. The education of the Christian man is very important and teachers  play essential roles in passing along the message. That is why the bible says “I will give you pastors that will feed you with knowledge and with understanding”(Jer 3:15). It also says in Isaiah 30vs20:21, “though the lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction yet shall not your teachers be removed into a corner anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers and your ears shall hear a word behind thee saying this is the way to go walk ye in it”. This shows that God has created  teachers to lead and instruct us in the way of truth. When people become faint and discouraged about life it simply shows that nobody is really there teaching  or encouraging them about the experiences they are going through;  by bringing light into their confused state,  putting those experiences they are presently passing through in biblical context so that they will be able to grow and get out of that state.
Some people think that the experiences of today is quiet different or cannot be compared to what happened in bible days. What they fail to understand is that there is nothing new under the sun.  This is because as you experience certain things in life and you find out how someone else managed that particular or similar situation in the bible which gives you courage and hope. It also shows you that God is leading you into something great. This means no matter the situation you are going through there is always someone to encourage you.  But first you just need to go through the learning curve in other to know the worth or value of what that experience is bringing to your table.
One thing you need to understand about life is that material things will come and go but the experiences that bring about those material things can never be taken away from you. As far as that level is concerned you have learnt something about life that has made you wiser and will help you in any decision making in the future.  Also God is preparing you for someone in the future that will go through similar situations like you did and will need your encouraging words in other not to faint.
As we grow in our Christian walk every situation or circumstance is there to teach us something about life and experience can only repeat itself if the individual has not properly learnt from it. Therefore, every new challenge is a new experience that God wants to take you through to learn from and our teachers are people that encourage us so we don’t misuse the opportunity. Therefore, we must summit ourselves to these things in order to  achieve the maximum result  God has intended it for.

In conclusion, the secret to true learning is in your personal experience. You do not learn anything outside your personal experience. No matter how informed you are, you really do not learn if you do not have one on one experiences with definite situations. This means there can be no transference of knowledge if  there  is no modification of behaviour or change in one’s  life style.  The change can only come when the information that you are getting is processed in a way that you experience it and this will be connected to something that is going on in your life right now or something that may have happened in the past.