Its raining again in Houston. The rain keeps coming, then it gets cold, but for a brief moment the sun comes out and we warm up, only to start this geographical process of a “Texas Winter” all over again. Amazingly shortly after the rain disappears and the sun peeks out its head out beyond the clouds, everything just smells fresh and clean. Even living in a huge city it happens. I miss spring and everything it represents in our lives. I miss riding my bike, going for long walks, sitting in the sunshine with a cool glass of southern iced tea. I miss the trees blooming, despite seasonal allergies, the flowers coming to life and the other signs that indicate that winter is finally over and we can look forward to a few months of nice days before the Texas summer is upon us and we are screaming for fall to come. We are never satisfied are we?
Genesis 4:6-7: The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.
Just before this passage we read that Abel brought an acceptable offering to God, but Cain did not. Instead, Cain brought a offering of the ground, which God had cursed. God refused to accept Cain’s offering. Cain was never satisfied with all the God has given him and blessed him with and like many generations that would come after him, Cain’s pride got the best of him. His jealousy towards his brother Abel and his anger towards God was relentless and fueled something inside of him. Even after God had given him this warning, Cain still lured his brother out into the field and murdered him.
Genesis 4:10-15: The LORD said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." But the LORD said to him, "Not so if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
Okay, so I can’t prove this in my blogging time this morning, but knowing God the way I do, I am convinced that a couple of things could have changed this whole situation around for Cain. (1) He could have first heeded this warning from the Lord and repented of his anger and jealousy or (2) even if he failed in resisting sin, he could have told God that he killed Adam and possibly seen and learned a valuable lesson in God’s grace and mercy. Do you think God would have banished Cain if he just told God, “I have killed my brother in my anger and jealousy and please forgive me”? He might have but deep down I want to believe that God would have embraced Cain and given him another chance.
Much later, after Jesus has walked the earth and died for our sins, we see this story played out every single day in not only the lives of others, but in our own lives as well. So many times I hear this crazy voice in my head which asks me “Cindy why are you downcast? Just do what is right and you will have my grace and mercy in what your life. I wish I could say I always choose “right”, but I can’t. Sometimes I just think I’m much smarter than God. I quickly find out however that God is warning me because He is good and wants me to avoid the trap that an enemy who is “sitting outside my door” has laid out for me. We must learn to master sin in our lives in order to be effective in this world which is fallen and full of sin.
Cain’s entire destiny changed in that moment of his “choice”. Did it mean that God refused to continue to love Cain – absolutely not, the Lord disciplines those he loves (Proverbs 3:12). I’m sure God’s heart broke then just as it breaks when we make choices that are not right. Sometimes we have to just accept the fact that we screwed up to the point that we don’t get a “do over”. But we get to learn from those choices and the next time the enemy comes to us in that area of our life, we can remember the consequences of our previous actions and not go around that mountain again. I’m sure many times during his life Cain had to looks back at the land he loved in Eden and realize that one moment of time in his life changed everything forever.
The Apostle Paul gave us warning very much like the one God gave Cain:
Galatians 5:7-8, 13-15: 7You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Jealousy and anger are two emotions that drive us into a pit that we don’t want to be in. Looking back every bad choice I have made has been fueled by (1) jealousy, wanting what someone else had or trying to be like those around me, or (2) anger when I didn’t my own way or thought I was being mistreated or even worse (3) an attitude that I truly thought I could sin because quite frankly “I deserved to have something that God would not let me have”.
Friends, let us race towards the prize. Put aside the things that hinder us. We are called to freedom! Be thankful that we are in relationship with a God that speaks to us because for no other reason we are covered by the blood of his son, which is our mark from God! We do not need to trade our destiny for less than God has for us, we just need to do what is right in the eyes of our God.
The sun just peeked through briefly, and the rain has left a smell of cleanliness is in the air. I pray that this day the rain of your Holy Spirit will wash through you and wash away those things that keep you from Him.
God's favor isn't awarded like a trophy through winning a competition with others (Alicia Chole)
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