Why Do I Keep Having All These Same Issues Over and Over and Over?

When Will God Give Me An Answer or Provide Relief?

Do you ever feel like some of your "stuff" is going to haunt you to the grave. That stuff could be physical problems, emotional issues, financial troubles, attitudes, interpersonal relationship problems, sexual hangups, and the list is endless. You get counsel, you pray, you read, and you take steps, but the weight is still there, the porn is still a problem, my anger is still destroying relationships, or the bank account is overdrawn again!

What is going on? What is God trying to teach me, assuming that the afflictions is being allowed by God to teach me something?

This is not a new issue, but one that God has addressed so clearly that it is a wonder that this headline even attracted any Christians to the posting. We need to go back to the begging of the old Testament to find the answer.

Adam, Eve, Cain all suffered affliction for the same reasons that we do today. Even though God has clearly laid out the things they were to do in order to live a blessed life, they just don't do those things.  The story is repeated over and over throughout the old Testament as God's people decided to do things their way in order to get what they wanted and get it now, or to take matters into their own hands rather than trust God's provision.

And nothing has changed in the Church age. I read and reread the Bible, go to church, lead a Bible study, pray, tithe, and more. Then when I'm confronted with some difficulty, my first inclination is to fix it myself. When I am dealing with the sin in my life, I am all too ready to rationalize the sin away. When it comes to trusting God or trusting myself, I generally win. In fact, even when it comes to trusting God or trusting man, I often lurch towards man.

What is your thorn in the side? What is your unresolved sin? Where do you fail to trust?