4 Reasons God Keeps Allowing the Same Thing to Keep Happening to You

Romans 12:2

Sometimes things just keep happening for reasons we won’t ever fully understand on this side of eternity. Sometimes bad things keep happening because we live in a broken world that is not what God originally designed it to be. So don’t always look to yourself as the reasons for why one thing keeps happening over and over again.

With that said, we should mostly look at ourselves because that’s all we really have control over in life. So here are 4 possible reasons for why you may be experiencing the same thing over and over again in life.

1. For Good or Bad, the Same Thing Will Keep Happening to You If You Keep Following a True Principle

By the term “principle,” I’m referring to a cause-and-effect outcome that generally occurs in life. This differs from a “rule” or a “law” because these are the types of things that always happen every time. The law of gravity doesn’t sometimes apply. If you drop something, it always falls to the ground. Principles, however, are things that generally happen when certain variables are present.

The book of Proverbs, for example, is really a book of principles. People get into trouble when they start believing Proverbs is full of promises rather than principles. For example, Proverbs 19:15 states, “ . . . an idle person will suffer hunger.” Some lazy people will have enablers in their life who will give them food no matter what. And some hard-working people will run into a bad set of circumstances completely outside of their control which leads to them not having enough food at some point. But generally speaking, if you work hard you will have what you need and if you are idle you will not have what you need.

The reason I bring this up is because throughout the Bible we are given principles about life. Some of these principles teach us what to do so we can be blessed, and some of these principles are given to us as warnings so we know what not to do so we can avoid pain and misery.

For example, Proverbs 13:11 states, “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” Here we have a financial principle. Sure, sometimes a get-rich-quick scheme will work. But most of the time wealth is built through consistently making wise choices and working hard. So if someone seems to always have enough money, it’s probably because they are following this principle of working hard and being wise. On the other hand, if someone uses credit cards all the time and lives beyond their means, usually this type of person will always struggle financially. By following good financial principles, you will usually get good financial outcomes.

This idea is true for all parts of life. If something keeps happening in your life, whether it be in your relationships, your work, or your finances, there is usually a principle involved. People who experience lots of good things over and over are usually following a biblical principle that is yielding good results for them. And someone who keeps experiencing something negative is often unknowingly doing something that is yielding bad results.

This is why living a biblical life results in living a blessed life. As James 1:25 states, “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

2. The Same Things Will Keep Happening to You If You Keep Spending Time with the Same “Types” of People

I truly believe every person is an individual. We should all be judged by our own actions and not lumped together with a certain group. With that said, we also need to recognize there truly are certain “types” of people in this world.

Narcissists act narcissistic. Liars lie. Impatient people lose their temper. Cheaters cheat. Notice how the Bible associates certain outcomes with being around certain types of people:

• Proverbs 16:28, “A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.” If you keep experiencing lots of strife and separation between close friends, it could be because you keep hanging around dishonest people.
• Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” Are you often getting worked up and then getting yourself into trouble? Perhaps you are spending too much time with people who are “given to anger.”
• Proverbs 9:7 (NIV), “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.” Are you continually getting attacked by mean people? Perhaps you are throwing your pearls to the pigs and correcting people God does not want you to correct.

Sometimes we keep experiencing the same things over and over again in life because we keep removing people and then brining new people into our lives who are just like the people we just removed. If you keep dating the same type of person, if you keep making the same types of friends, or if you keep getting overly connected to the same type of worldly coworkers even though you keep switching jobs, you will keep experiencing the same results in life.

Your friends and close companions are oftentimes a window into your future. If you don’t admire the people you are spending time with, this is a problem because we usually become like the people we spend time with.

As Proverbs 13:20 explains, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

3. If You Keep Experiencing the Same Thing Over and Over in Life, It Could Be Because You Are Not Following a Righteous Routine

Have you ever noticed that whenever a group of people come together on the first day of a new class, a new small group, or at new cafeteria, everyone almost always keeps sitting in the same spot that they sat in on the first day they were there? For better or worse, humans are creature of habits.

Even when you study people in the secular world who have experienced a high amount of success in their particular area of expertise, these standouts are almost always the types of people who are extremely dogmatic about their routines. The best athletes always have a specific workout program and diet that they rarely deviate from. The smartest professors always have a rigid reading and research schedule that they rarely miss. The best authors always have some sort of writing pattern. As the best-selling author Stephen King said, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

While these are secular examples of the benefits of a routine, this principle also applies to the spiritual. We all need “a righteous routine.” If reading your Bible, prayer, and Christian fellowship are the fundamentals to building one’s faith, why would you leave these important things to mere chance? The most dangerous thing about not having a righteous routine is that you will naturally fall into an unrighteous routine. Again, humans are creatures of habits. If you are not routinely finding love, joy, and rest through routinely connecting with God, you will form a routine where you find false forms of love, joy, and rest in ungodly alternatives.

As Romans 12:2 and 21 (NIV) states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

4. If You Keep Experiencing the Same Thing Over and Over Again in Life, This Could Be Happening Because You Have Not Yet Learned the Lesson God Is Trying to Teach You

Oftentimes the way to breakout of a season you don’t like is by learning the lesson God wants you to learn. The faster we learn what God is teaching us, the faster God will let us move onto a new season. Like a kid in school who needs to repeat a grade because he didn’t learn what is needed for the next grade, sometimes God won’t let us graduate from one season because we have not learned the lessons we need to succeed in the next season he has planned for us.

As Jesus said in Luke 16:10 (NIV), “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Perhaps God wants to give you much, so he needs you to first be faithful with the little. If you want a better job, be faithful to God at the job you have. If you want a godly relationship, be faithful to God in your singleness. If you want more financial freedom, honor the Lord with the resources he has given you now.

Perhaps once you learn the lessons God needs you to learn, he will finally remove you from this season and let you experience something new.