I hope you’re not sick, broke, or in trouble today! But if you are, there’s hope!

I meet people with all sorts of issues—sickness, lack, debt, family trouble, etc. And I’ve found that these issues may look like one thing, but the root problem can actually be something else.

And very often that something else is (brace yourself)—unforgiveness. Not in every case, you understand, but often enough to check there first.

Say, for example, you’re sick. You’ve prayed and believed God for healing, gone to the doctor, taken medication, done everything you know to do to try and get better, but nothing works.

Whenever I’m believing for something that just isn’t working, I’ve learned that it’s good to check my heart for unforgiveness, just to be sure it’s not clogging my blessing pipe.

Often when I’ve done that, the Lord will gently remind me of a small (or big) irritation that I’ve let marinate too long—and I need to forgive. I’ve had that happen over and over in my life, and I've seen it over and over in the lives of others.

Tracy’s Story

One day I got a phone call from a woman—we’ll call her Tracy—who was having a lot of troubles. She told me, “Karen, I’m a Bible school graduate and a Bible-believing Christian. I pray, I speak the Word, I know how to rebuke the devil and take my authority. But lately it seems like everything in my life is going wrong!”

It seems her car had broken down, then her dishwasher, and then she’d been demoted at work. Not only that, but she found herself still in debt even after getting a consolidation loan, she had gotten sick repeatedly, and several important people in her life were angry or acting out. There was just a lot going on, and none of it good!

Don’t misunderstand me—sometimes stuff just happens and life deals us a lot of garbage at once. But in this case, I just happened to have taught forgiveness in a recent class and it jumped up in my spirit.

So I said, “Tracy, can I ask you a question? Has anything happened to you lately that caused you hurt? Is there a chance you’re harboring unforgiveness in your heart against anyone?”

After a brief silence, Tracy said, “Oh my gosh, Karen! You’re right!” She saw right away that she had been holding onto the hurt from a recent altercation. We prayed together to forgive that person, and several weeks later she called back to report that every problem had been resolved.

Wow! Who knew that harboring unforgiveness could be the root of so many other troubles?

Maybe you’re like Tracy. Maybe things are going wrong in your life. Or maybe you’ve been believing for something for a long time and haven’t seen results. There could be a number of different reasons, but why not check your heart for unforgiveness to see if it might be clogging your blessing pipe? Colossians 3:13 puts it plain: Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

It’s not hard to do. Just pray, “Father, am I harboring unforgiveness against anyone?” If you are, He’ll tell you who it is. Then make it quick, and forgive them. You may be surprised by how fast God turns it around for you. He’s always ready to help us when we turn to Him.