By Dr. Anne Davis

There seems to be a great deal of anger in our country today, which started with the coronavirus pandemic and then boiled over to become rage directed against reports of police brutality.

Unfortunately, all of us seem to be experiencing some level of anger, which is directed against forces over which we have no control. I suggest that the key to understanding the cause of our anger is a complete lack of influence over what we perceive to be evil.

Could the Holy Scriptures explain how we can gain control over a difficult situation? Equally important, do they clarify the consequences of anger and rage?

Let’s go to the story of Cain, whose anger against his brother led to intense wrath that ended in murder. We must ask, “What caused Cain’s anger?”

Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve and was therefore entitled to a special position of privilege and respect. Yet, God refused to accept his offering and accepted instead the gift given by his younger brother, Abel. Cain’s anger was directed at his brother, which became so intense that his rage led to murder.

We must ask, “Did Cain feel a lack of control?” I suggest the answer is “Yes”. If we live our lives with certain expectations, like Cain the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, and then an expectation suddenly disappears, a common phrase captures the result that can metaphorically lead to pain and destruction. “The rug has been pulled out from under our feet.”

Is that how you feel now? Has your world been turned upside down and you resent the loss of “the way it was”?

Next, consider this question. Was Abel, against whom Cain’s anger was directed, the cause of Cain’s problem? No! It was God. How often do we point our anger in the wrong direction? Where is your anger directed?

I suggest that the way for Cain to overcome his anger would have been to discuss the problem with God. If we tell God what “we” want in our prayers, we are not likely to receive a positive response. However, if we seek what “God” wants, and we commit to deliver what He seeks, then I suggest that God will bless us.

Now, let’s look at the consequences. One would think that God would inflict the punishment of death on Cain for the murder of his brother, but that is not what happened. God told Cain, “When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth (Gen 4:12).

We see two related consequences, but together they summarize what happens when we are unable to control situations (in fact, unable to control our very lives). We become bitter because we lack the fulfillment that creates a life of joy and blessings.

There is one more provocative consequence. God prevented others from killing Cain, a death that would ostensibly have ended Cain’s life of suffering. Instead, God made Cain continue in a life of pain and agony.

However, there was a solution for Cain and there is a solution for us today, which we read in Genesis 4:7.

1. “If you do well…” That is, if you learn to turn to God and walk in His ways.
2. “…will not your countenance be lifted up?” (NASB translation). Your countenance is in italics, which means it has been added, so delete it. The Hebrew word translated “lifted up” also means “exalted”, which I suggest is the meaning implied here. So, “If you do well by living according to the ways of God, will you not be exalted [by God]”? The answer is “yes”!
3. “And, if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you…” The image of crouching evokes a ravenous lion about to pounce, which would cause an agonizing death (lions lived in the dense undergrowth of the Jordan River Valley in ancient times). The lion represents sin, and what sin can do in our lives.
4. “…but you must master it” (Gen 4:7). Can we overcome our insecurities, and our feelings that we have no control? The Bible answers, “Yes”! We turn to Yeshua, submit to him in humble obedience, and mature in righteousness by slowly, but methodically, removing the habit of sins from our lives. God will then exalt us with blessings.

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