What causes trouble in my life?

Genesis 3:17-19To the man he [God] said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”

Job 5:7“People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.”

Job 14:1“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!”

Ecclesiastes 2:22-23So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.

Trouble is the inevitable byproduct of sin entering the world, so we should not be surprised by it. But along with our trouble comes the strength and wisdom that God provides for us to handle it.

Leviticus 26:14-20“However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you. I will bring sudden terrors upon you—wasting diseases and burning fevers that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will plant your crops in vain because your enemies will eat them. I will turn against you, and you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will run even when no one is chasing you! And if, in spite of all this, you still disobey me, I will punish you seven times over for your sins. I will break your proud spirit by making the skies as unyielding as iron and the earth as hard as bronze. All your work will be for nothing, for your land will yield no crops, and your trees will bear no fruit.”

Nehemiah 9:27“So you handed them over to their enemies, who made them suffer. But in their time of trouble they cried to you, and you heard them from heaven. In your great mercy, you sent them liberators who rescued them from their enemies.”

Psalm 38:4-6My guilt overwhelms me—it is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief.

Proverbs 12:13The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble.

Proverbs 13:21Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.

Isaiah 66:4“I will send them great trouble—all the things they feared. For when I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned before my very eyes and chose to do what they know I despise.”

Jeremiah 4:18“Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”

Jeremiah 21:14“‘And I myself will punish you for your sinfulness, says the Lord. I will light a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around you.’”

Jeremiah 25:7“But you would not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.”

Romans 2:9There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.

Trouble can be self-inflicted, the natural consequence of our own poor decisions or sin.

Jonah 1:1-3The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.

We can expect to find ourselves in deep trouble if we insist on running away from God.

Joshua 7:25Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.”

Job 15:35“They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. Their womb produces deceit.”

Psalm 7:14The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.

Psalm 106:32At Meribah, too, they angered the Lord, causing Moses serious trouble.

Proverbs 6:14Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.

Proverbs 10:10People who wink at wrong cause trouble, but a bold reproof promotes peace.

Proverbs 11:29Those who bring trouble on their families inherit the wind. The fool will be a servant to the wise.

Proverbs 22:8Those who plant injustice will harvest disaster, and their reign of terror will come to an end.

Jonah 1:1-5The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord . . . . But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.

1 Timothy 6:5These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.

We can also experience unnecessary trouble when other people’s sins affect our lives.

Matthew 24:9“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.”

John 15:18-19“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”

John 16:33“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

1 Thessalonians 3:1-3Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles.

1 Peter 4:15-16If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

The trouble we experience may be related to our commitment to God. Both Satan and the world will try to stop us from accomplishing anything for God.