Most of us don’t wake up one morning and decide to blow up our lives. We don’t suddenly decide to destroy a friendship, become bitter toward our spouse, compromise our integrity, or walk away from God.

Usually, it happens slowly. Someone from work doesn’t something to hurt us. We replay the events in our head over and over. Then, we interpret motives and characterize the person based on those interpretations.

Eventually, hurt becomes resentment. Resentment begins to feel justified. And before long, we find ourselves saying or doing things we never imagined we would do. This patterns is consistent throughout all of humanity.

Something Is Crouching at the Door

We see this progression in one of the earliest stories in the Bible. In Genesis 4, Cain and his brother Abel both bring offerings to God. God regards Abel and his offering, but He doesn’t regard Cain and his offering.

Cain becomes angry and discouraged, but what happens next is fascinating. God moves toward Cain. He asks: “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” God already knows the answer. He’s inviting Cain to look below the surface at his emotions and motivations.

“Why are you angry?

And why has your countenance fallen?”

Then God warns him: “Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” That’s a disturbing picture. Sin isn’t presented as an innocent object sitting beside the road waiting for Cain to stumble across it. It’s pictured like a predator crouching at the door.

“Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain has a decision to make. And tragically, Cain doesn’t listen. His anger progresses into murder and he kills his brother Abel.

The Progression Usually Starts Small

Cain’s story is extreme, but the progression is painfully familiar. Maybe someone really did hurt you? The hurt itself isn’t imaginary, but then you start dwelling on it. You replay the conversation while you’re driving. Or, you imagine what you should have said? it all starts with –

• HURT
• DESIRE
• PASSION
• DEATH

It is at the passion layer of our soul that we begin to justify and dehumanize a person so that we feel our action of withdrawal, gossip, slander, or violence is justified. This is how sin crouches at our door and masters us!

That’s why one of the most courageous prayers we can pray is the prayer of Psalm 139, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Not just, “God, show me what they’re doing wrong.” “God, show me what’s happening inside me.”

God Keeps Moving Toward Cain

But there’s another pattern in Cain’s story that is easy to miss. Cain keeps moving away from God, but God keeps moving toward Cain. In Genesis 4 we see the Lord asking questions, following up, pressing in, and every time Cain pushes Him away. Even when Cain is facing the consequences of what he’s done, God still extends mercy toward him.

Cain’s tragedy isn’t that nobody warned him. Cain’s tragedy is that he wouldn’t listen. And that’s where Cain’s story becomes our story. We like to imagine ourselves as Abel, the innocent person being hurt by all the Cains of the world.

But if we’re honest, we are more familiar with Cain. We know what it’s like to hold onto bitterness. We know what it’s like to use words to hurt someone. And, we know what it’s like to justify what’s happening inside us. It’s because sin has crouched at all of our doors!

Jesus Comes Toward People Like Cain

That’s why Jesus is such good news. God didn’t wait for us to clean ourselves up and find our way back to Him. He came to us. Jesus took on flesh and drew near to people who were far from God. At the cross, He took our sin upon Himself.

Genesis says Abel’s blood cried out from the ground for justice. But Hebrews 12:24 says the blood of Jesus “speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” It’s because Jesus blood cries out for mercy. At the cross, we see both: God’s justice against sin and God’s mercy toward sinners.

Jesus stood in our place and took the judgment we deserved so that people like Cain, and people like us, could receive forgiveness and life. That means we don’t have to hide what’s going on below the surface. We don’t have to pretend we’re not bitter, or pretend we’re not angry. Jesus already knows, and He came toward us anyway.

It’s because of Jesus, we don’t have to sit in the betrayal of the friend who hurt us and pretend what happened was okay. We can trust God with justice and know there is forgiveness available to all who call on His name!

Don’t Make Cain’s Mistake

Genesis 4 eventually tells us that Cain “went out from the presence of the LORD.” That’s the tragedy. God moved toward Cain and Cain moved away from the Lord. So when God begins exposing something crouching at our door, let’s not make Cain’s mistake. Let’s turn to Him. Let’s invite Him into the darkest parts of our soul, because we know He isn’t coming for condemnation. He’s coming for freedom!