Experience and the Future

Sometimes all the enemy has to do is remind us of old battles. It is easy to allow experience to decide our future, but it is not the will of our Father. Experiences should mature us… not rule over us. If we allow experience to be the final authority and dominate our thinking, we forfeit hope. According to the Word, we must persevere through experiences to get to hope: Rom 5:3-4 “…but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.” (KJV) It is interesting that several translations substitute the word “character” for “experience.” “Endurance produces character, and character produces hope,” (RSV). Experiences are meant to process and strengthen our character, not become a set of expectations that overshadow our future. —Kathy Gabler