Even Dysfunction Can Result In Good...IF It Is Turned Over To God.

Genesis 4:6-8 -  So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Now Cain talked with Abel his brother;  and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Sin left the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.  It was banished from the garden…but never left the sight of this couple it had tricked once into rebelling against God. It decided to invade the heart and mind of their firstborn child…Cain. We are not told the particulars…but his attitude was clearly not focused on pleasing God. 

Cain had two choices when he saw that his offering was not pleasing to the God he went to worship. He could have cried out for God to help him understand what he had done wrong so he could fix it. But Cain chose to cry out to God in anger and bitterness. The result was a sadness that sin attached itself to  quickly…the anger growing inside so strong that Cain decided to use it to take the life of his brother.

God quickly separated him from the rest of the population…cursing his effort to till the soil even more than he had his father….forcing him to wander forever upon the land. His whole life was spent hiding from those that might seek to kill him in restitution for his brother’s life. God still loved Cain…despite his huge mistake….enough to put a covering over him ever being killed by anyone seeking revenge.

I hear two clear lessons from God in Cain’s story.  Perhaps the strongest message from God is to always seek him in a repentant attitude…seeking to please him from the start with all that we do.  That prevents sin from ever seeing a weakness that it can attach itself too. But my soul sings with thankfulness to God that he eventually used Cain to bring about a new son that began to see the need to call on God again.  It took a few generations…but Enosh finally got it right in verse 25.

It is a great reminder to me that Even though God lets the consequences of our sin seep into our beings as daily reminders that we made the wrong choice...he raises us back up with lessons along the way of how to get it right. Somebody taught Enosh how to call on God in the turmoil of all that dysfunction and pain…and he took the time to teach others.

Father…thank you for the reminders to seek you in repentance and be willing to let you change our wrong attitudes….and that you never leave us…even if we mess up bad.  Forgive me for the times that I have been like Cain…and brought an attitude of entitlement to my worship time of you. Help me to always seek what you want above my own thoughts and desires…and remember that even if I mess up you will always pull me back to you so I can earn how to get it right. Amen.