Title Don't Trust Your Experience Too Much
Contents
Acts (131) Do not trust the experience too much (Acts 27:1-11)
<Three major pathways for recognizing objects and phenomena>
When Paul was escorted to Rome by petition for the trial of the Roman emperor, the centurion Julius was in charge of the escort (verse 1). In Paul’s “escort journey to Rome,” their party departed from Caesarea, passed through Sidon, Mura, and Nido, and arrived at the port south of Crete (verses 3-8). At that time, Paul advised us to stop sailing because it was winter, but the centurion believed more the words of the experienced captain and the shipowner (verse 11). In the end, while he is forcing his route, he encounters a great storm and goes to the point of death. When we reflect on our experiences wisely, suffering is reduced, but when we trust our experiences too much, we increase our sufferings.
There are three main pathways for recognizing objects and phenomena. First, there are ‘five senses’. The five senses are seeing with sight, hearing with hearing, smelling with smell, taste with taste, and touch with touch. Rational knowledge and logical thinking are acquired by mobilizing all five senses. However, what the five senses can perceive is only a small part of the knowledge of all things. Therefore, it is impossible to analyze and cope with all the various phenomena of all things through human experience. So, respect your experience, but don't trust it too much.
Second, there is the 'sixth sense'. The sixth sense is an intuitive mental sense that grasps objects and phenomena. A sense of premonition or intuition is a kind of sixth sense. The sixth sense is acquired through a mental instinct based on experience. Women tend to have a more developed sixth sense. So, a man's lies are often exposed to a woman's sixth sense. But giving too much importance to the sixth sense puts you in fatal danger. That's why, while saying, "You can't cheat a woman's sixth sense!", they catch a living person and live in the smoke of doubt, often breaking their family and relationships. So don't get too hung up on your sixth sense.
<Don't trust your experience too much>
Of course, living by inspiration does not mean that experience is ignored. Respect your experience. People who respect experience are more likely to succeed. Success experiences are very useful in creating another success. On the other hand, experiences of failure are just as important to success as experiences of success. Success usually resurrects from the grave of failure.
Don't be afraid to fail. Even when failure is expected, keep challenging yourself and never give up on your holy vision. The experience of failure is also important. When Edison made the light bulb, it failed 110,000 experiments in 13 months. Then the assistant said. "Teacher! I failed 110,000 times in 13 months, so why not stop now?” Then Edison said. "Hey! 110,000 failures? It's not failure, it's the 110,000 ways you shouldn't do it."
Failure is a beneficial study process as long as you do not deviate from the path of your vision and goals. All successful people have gone through such a study process and succeeded. So, both success and failure experiences are important, but don't put too much faith in them. As you gain more experience, your self becomes stronger, and there is a great risk that you will be separated from God's grace. Don't believe too much in miraculous experiences. There are not only one or two people who fell into hell after having a miraculous experience.
No matter how many experiences and experiences you have, you cannot live without God's grace. Also, without God's grace, we cannot even overcome ourselves. The same is true no matter how many rams you build up. Through philosophy or religion, you can reach the stage of knowing yourself, but you cannot reach the stage of overcoming yourself. Only when God gives grace can man overcome himself, and only those who truly change themselves can truly change the world.