“Awas! Ada ular!” (Watch out! There’s a snake!). And as he spoke, with a deft swipe of his machete, he sliced through the snake. Dear husband was on a rescue mission to retrieve the pilot of a crashed helicopter in the jungle when an Indonesian companion shouted the warning and dispatched the threat. Whew! Hopefully, you didn’t encounter a poisonous snake in your path today. Or did you, and no one was with you to warn you and subdue it? I hope I can be one of your companions that warns you so that you can subdue your attacker.

“. . . watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Genesis 4:7

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Last Sunday I was teaching a Bible story to a group of children. As it turns out, I needed the lesson! It had been on mind lately that I’m so grateful when that quiet voice of what we often call ‘conscience’ but is really God’s Spirit jabs me. I’m so grateful because it reminds me that God is eager to teach us no matter how old we are. He keeps correcting us when we’re entertaining wrong attitudes, thoughts, and desires which will eventually come out as wrong words or actions.

Ouch! There’s that negative thought that has no place in my head! I identify why it’s wrong and turn away from it to a higher thought. Thank you, God, for making me aware. God is in the business of pointing out our wrong thinking not because he is accusatory, but because he is warning us before we reap the bitter consequences of wrong thinking.

So back to the children’s Bible lesson. It was the story of Cain and Abel which we’ve heard since we were little. So what did I need from the familiar story at this point in my life so far removed from childhood? I needed to be reminded that certain attitudes easily lead to wrongdoing. And we always have a choice what we do with those attitudes before they turn into actions. We can continue in them in spite of warnings from God and suffer the consequences, or stay away from them and take the high road of obedience and avoid the downward spiral.

Cain “was very angry.” Uh, oh! Problems brewing. Anger rarely serves God’s purposes. It opens the door for the waiting enemy of our souls to leap onto us. Cain was angry at God and at his brother. He compared himself and his outcomes to his brother and his outcomes. A bad idea. His expression gave him away. He looked dejected. Sad, resentful, annoyed, despondent, unhappy, disappointed, depressed, scowling, gloomy, looking down are words used in other translations for his expression. We might call it pouting or sulking. He was broadcasting his dissatisfaction. Of course, I would never wear this expression. Ahem. If we catch ourselves in the pout mode, let it warn us that we’re in dangerous territory. Time to check attitudes. Why am I so angry? In fact, that’s exactly what God asked Cain. God was asking him to do some self-examination, to reflect on the source of the problem.

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right.” Genesis 4:6

Cain was angry because he felt that God had rejected his offering and therefore, had rejected him. He felt discriminated against, like God was playing favorites by accepting his brother’s offering and not his. So God explains what he needs to do to be accepted, too. He has to do what is right. Something in Cain’s heart was wrong and therefore he wasn’t pleasing God. Then God gave him a sober warning- knowing, of course, the hideous act Cain was about to commit.

“But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Genesis 4:7

The choice was Cain’s. Cain had fed a monster with his anger and pouting and it was about to overpower him. Yet it wasn’t too late to stop it. God offered him a solution and a warning. “Sin is eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” Even after God’s warning, Cain refused to change his attitude and the crouching sin jumped on him and overpowered him causing him to slay his own brother.

We each have a choice in handling our anger and disappointment. We can let it take over or we can do what is right and please God. None of us is probably going to kill a family member in anger. But we slowly kill family relationships in our anger. We shut out those closest to us when we’re dejected or unhappy. We say mean things when we’re annoyed, and do cruel things when we’re resentful. When we mistreat others, the crouching monster has pounced and gotten the upper hand.

So what do we do? Watch out! We should keep alert to anger. It doesn’t serve us or God. . . even the little outbreaks of anger that we call frustration. I don’t know what frustrates you, but it sneaks up on me when my computer freezes or I have to redo something. But being mad doesn’t help me resolve the problem. Choosing to accept the delay and asking for God’s help does help me resolve the problem. Anger in small or big doses is an invitation to sin. It shuts down God’s work in us and spills out onto others. Choosing to turn away from it opens up our ability to receive God’s help for a good outcome for us and for those around us.

Watch out! We should also keep alert for comparisons. It’s often been said that comparing ourselves to others steals our joy. And it’s true. Our job is to please God. What others are doing or not doing isn’t our business. We will each stand before God for what we did, not for what someone else did. I’m finding that gratitude is a very good anecdote for the poison of comparison. When someone else does well at something I want to do well at I thank God for their success and I thank God for the many ways he has helped me and the gifts he has given me for his purposes. I acknowledge that he’s in charge and rest in his goodness. This brings contentment with my own situation and starves the comparison monster.

“When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord.  Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,  but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.”  Genesis 4:3-5

So let’s watch out for anger and comparisons this week. We’re not going to give that crouching monster a chance!

Machete image- Taylor Daugherty on Unsplash.com
Door image- composited from photos by Syed Admad Qu and Andrey K on Unsplash.com