When I became a Christian I felt the uncontrollable urge to get ride of a lot of things; I wanted to clean house.
I got rid of numerous music CDs, some movies, books, statues, art, and miscellaneous things.
I felt like the people mentioned in Acts 19:
Acts 19:17-21
17And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
19Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all
men: and they counted the price of them, and found
it fifty thousand
pieces of silver.
20So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
I felt like I needed to get rid of some things that were holding me back. I don't really have an explanation for why, but I believe the Holy Spirit of God led me to get rid of things that would hold me back.
Next, the Holy Spirit began working with me. He clearly had a gameplan as to which things needed to be removed first, and which order, to make my sanctification on Earth more effective.
I think living holy is a process that requires prerequisite changes before other changes can occur.
To those Jews and Gentiles mentioned in Acts 19, who believed in Christ, confessed, and showed their deeds it was a matter of getting rid of the books about "curious arts." Most Bible versions seem to specify that books about "curious arts" is a reference to magic/sorcerery books.
Before the Holy Spirit can address the root cause maybe it's necessary sometimes to clean house a little bit. Then He can address the root causes rather than the symptoms.
That is my experience that I'm still experiencing to this very day.
Ever experience anything like that?