The Tell Tale Face

Gen 4:6,7 "So the Lord said to Cain: 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 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.'"

Tell tale signs of sin: Anger and a face that shows it. Cain just killed Abel out of jealousy. He knew that God favored Abel's sacrifice of an animal (see the reference of what God sacrificed in yesterday's blog) instead of some veggies being offered up to Him in worship. The result: Jealousy. And this jealousy lead to anger and this anger lead to murder. The thing is, God warned him. Before he ever raised his hand against Abel, God gave him this warning. "Sin's desire is for you. It will take you down. Be careful. In fact, be proactive. You have to exercise dominion over the very thing that wants to nail you." Did Cain listen to God? No. He ignored God's warning and killed his brother. Then he had to pay the consequences. "When you till the ground, it shall not longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth." V11 A tough, lonely life.

We are so much like Cain. We get jealous, or bitter, or selfish and it reveals itself in anger. Our faces show what our lives are like.

It is interesting, but my wife just came back from a women's retreat from our church this weekend. Over 60 women met for almost two days and shared together, learned together, sang together, laughed together, cried together, worshiped together. It was a great time. In the middle of it all, they all stood on the steps of the hotel where they were having this conference and had a group picture taken. You could tell what was going on in their lives by the expressions on their faces. The great majority of women were smiling. But there was one woman in particular that you could tell something was going on. She was not happy. He countenance was fallen You could see the struggle in her face. I wonder what was going on inside her at that time?

I'm like that too. Sin is always sitting at the door ready to pounce. And when there is sin in my life, when I am feeling guilty, or bitter, or angry or whatever, my face shows it. Oh, I try to hide it, but my wife and kids know better. My friends know better. And sin's desire is to take me down. That is when I have to heed the words that God gave Cain: Rule over it. Overcome it. Do battle and exercise dominion over it. Then I will do well. Then I will be accepted.