If you read ahead in Genesis 4 you already know that even though God confronted Cain with great questions and gave the “heads up” as to how the situation would end, Cain still chose the wrong path.  Did God know before He asked the questions how the story would end?  Absolutely!!  Yet He still asked.

I can’t tell you how many times during the course of my life I have said, “They won’t listen” and walked away saying nothing.  While I certainly can’t speak for you, for my part, I believe that conclusion was often more about me than them.  When I feel that what I am about to say will not be well received then I have a tendancy to avoid, run, go silent, ……  How do you respond?    

Unlike God, it is an assumpiton on my part of how someone else is going to respond.  Who knows how God would have used me if I had shown up.  Both the recipient and I, missed an opportunity.  

Cain’s response didn’t determine God’s response.  The God of mercy, love, grace and opportunity remained the same God of mercy, love, grace and opportunity regardless of outcome.  Stop here for a moment and let that sink in.  God spoke volumes to me here and I pray He is doing the same for you.

My mind is racing with the implications of that knowledge.  So instead of evaluating how they will respond or how it will affect me, I concentrate on who I am in Christ and how I can best serve Him in the situation.   It just dawned on me that often I have said, “Here I am Lord, send me” but then responded “Not there, they won’t listen.”  My mentality put me in a place where I would only go where I felt I could control the outcome.  

Error   Danger   

I plant according to what God puts in my heart and the outcome belongs to God.  I don’t know about you, but I have some faulty thinking that needs a 

R e S e t