Exodus 2:2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
‘Theoretical theological knowledge’ without ‘experience’ would be ‘information-overload’. On the other hand, ‘experiences’ not backed with the Word of God would make people ‘ignorant-babblers’. A good balance of information and experiences are essential for Christian maturity. If we have the ‘know-how’ but lack ‘do-how’ our ‘know-how’ will be in vain and the ‘do-how’ without the ‘know-how’ could become dangerous. This is why most technical courses insist on an internship for degree completion. Hands-on experience in the industry develops the ‘key transferable competencies and skills’ necessary for the workplace. Similarly, life experiences should reveal the depth of God’s Word and refine us into powerful testimonies.
The Burning Bush experience was the pivotal point of the ministry of Moses. “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). Moses has information-overload but lacked empathy and experience to become a Pastor to the congregation of half a million slaves. He knew about the God of his ancestors but he did not know Him. The Lord met him at the burning bush and turned his life around. The success and skills of Moses made him over-confident but the burning bush encounter broke his self-confidence and replaced it with God-confidence. He thought he could fix the slavery issue in Egypt with his authority as he was a man of power in words and deeds. The wilderness humbled the head-strong man and the burning-bush encounter pumped him with spiritual steroids to run his course as a benevolent leader.
The imbalance between knowledge and experience would make people intolerant, impatient and inflexible as they suffer from information-anxiety. Intransigent and reactionary people are ignorant with all their scholarly head-knowledge as they lack experience. If you wonder why we experience storm after storm, it is simply divine-internship to turn our head-knowledge into heart-experiences and spiritual-revelations.
The Balance of information and experience:
1. Energized: One divine encounter will put us on spiritual steroids for months! It was the burning bush encounter that energized Moses to go back and stand before the Pharaoh with authority.
2. Empathetic: Information-overload could make us proud and egoistic but divine encounters and experiences tenderize our heart with love and empathy.
3. Efficient: We cannot be useful to the Lord with our theological knowledge until the information has transformed into practical experiences. God will permit the circumstances and challenges of life to give us practical knowhow of theoretical knowledge. Experiences are the conduit to transform the head knowledge into practical efficiencies. Divine encounters siphon spiritual steroids to equip us to overcome the pummeling storms of life.
Crucible circumstances are experiences that pump spiritual steroids to energize us and make us empathetic and efficient influencers.
Exodus 2:3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, teach me to be humble with my theological knowledge and make me empathetic and be energized with the divine encounters and experience. Use me to bless and encourage others in their spiritual journey. Amen.
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