Hello Everyone,
I pray that you all have had a blessed week. God is truly doing a work in the lives of many! So many of us were blessed through last week's post regarding mourning. God has given us all the dynamics of each emotion. He just requires us to sin not and honor Him with those emotions (Ephesians 4:26). We were made to glorify Him in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
God has truly been calling me to a higher level of prayer in Him. I am part of a leadership team for a midday bible study. Instead of having normal class this week, we spent the entire time in cooperate prayer. It was such an awesome time in the Lord. The Holy Spirit was present and we had a high time in prayer. We must keep the lines of communication open. In order to maintain any relationship communication is required. Prayer is key in communicating with God (Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Could you imagine Eve's prayers to God regarding her son's Cain and Abel? We have been on quite the journey with Eve. The past two weeks have brought light to Eve's struggle as a mother. I would imagine that her prayer life increased tremendously as she experienced life outside of the Garden of Eden.
This week we will further discuss Eve's journey. When we seek the Lord, we must trust God's plan for us, especially when His plan looks different from ours.
Resource
Genesis 4:9-24
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 And He said, "What have you done?" The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth." 13 And Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." 15 And the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, venegeance shall be taken on him sevenfold ." And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irod begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. 19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who play the harp and flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 23 Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me. 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.
Lesson
At this present stage of Eve's life, she is mourning the lives of two sons; the death of Abel and the casting out of Cain. One of Eve's greatest sorrows was that her first son was a murderer and her second son his victim (Spangler & Syswerda 2006). As a mother, Eve toiled over the fate of her two sons. Cain slew Abel, his own mother's son (Henry 1997). She had to have felt the guilt of her own sin in regards to the act of Cain and God's punishment for his actions. Disobedience to God broke the vertical relationship between us and God and the horizontal relationships between man and woman, parent and child, and human relationships of all kind (Matthews 1990).
I am a mother of a teenage son and I have concerns about the possible conditions and decisions of his life. I reflect on my sins and how they affect him and how they will effect his future. In a previous post I spoke about my decisions to divorce. That sin has lasting effects (Romans 5:12). There are so many parables in the bible that speak about the sin of generations and the impact of those sins on future generations (Numbers 35:29). The Israelites were in slavery in Egypt for generations and then in the wilderness for generations (Deuteronomy). Therefore, I have great concerns about my son and how the lasting effects of my sins and my generations' sins will impact his life. My prayer is that the Godly principles that I have tried to impart will out way and overcome the effects of the sin.
There are so many factors in motherhood and parenting. We must consider our own contributions to who our children become. Parents need to cast a vision for their children (Savage 2013). God has charged us to do so (Habakkuk 2:2). I am sure Eve had a vision for her children that did not involve Cain killing Abel and then God banishing Cain. Eve may have looked to her children for redemption of her sins. Maybe she thought that Cain and Abel could aid in the rebuilding of the broken relationship with God. The vision we implement must include God, for He knows the plan for us all (Jeremiah 29:11). Therefore, we must trust in God's plan for not only ourselves, but for our children (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Application
Planning consumes so much of our lives. We plan our meals, educational route, career, spouses, friendships, travel, etc. This is part of the vision planning that God has charged us to complete. However, are we making room for God's addendum to these plans? And when an addendum occurs, are we open to it? Do we trust God through it?
Eve experienced great loss through her own sin and the sins of Cain. However, she must have been seeking God throughout, because as we discussed in a previous post, God blessed her womb again and again. She gave birth to Seth who's legacy help to restore the relationship with God (Genesis 4:25-26).
This week as you are doing your normal planning, take some time to pray first and seek God's plan for you. We can start with something as simple as grocery shopping or what to have for dinner. God wants us to consider Him even in the most minute things. Once we have conquered submitting to His will in the small things, it gives way to submission in the larger plans of life.
I pray that you all will have a blessed week!
Be blessed,
T. Carter
All bible verses were extracted from the New King James Bible Version. YouVersion (2013).
Henry, Matthew (1997). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishing. Nashville, Tennessee
Matthews, Alice (1990). A Woman God Can Use. Discovery House Publishing. Grand Rapids, Michigan
Savage, Jill (2013). No More Perfect Moms; Learn to Love Your Real Life. Moody Publishers. Chicago, Illinois
Spangler, Ann & Syswerda, Jean E. (2006). Women of the Bible. Zondervan Publishing. Grand Rapids, Michigan
No comments:
Post a Comment