So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:5-7. God himself spoke to Cain as he speaks to us today, “sin is crouching at your door… but you must master it.”
Why was Cain angry? He compared himself with Abel. Comparison is a killer of joy. Once you begin to compare and compete with others, you have said good-bye to your happiness. Everyone has his or her own destiny. And as the saying goes, life is turn by turn. Since Abel’s offering was accepted, what stopped Cain from doing another sacrifice? The fact that you failed in a venture where your neighbour succeeded, should that make you angry or jealous of your neighbour? Never ever compare yourself with others, stop saying ‘my mates’, ‘my mates’. No one has it all. Never wish to have anything that belongs to another because you never can tell what that person is going through.
What are we to do when angry? First we must realize that we have power over it. Just as God advised Cain, sin is knocking at your door, but you must master it. For God to say this to Cain means he knows we have what it takes to master our anger. We are to control it and not let it control us. If angry causes us to sin, then it means we allowed it control us but if despite our angry, we do not sin, it means we are victors. Cain did not take God’s advice, he allowed his angry push him into killing his brother. In anger, we lose our rationality, that is, anger makes us foolish. That is why decisions taken in anger are always regrettable. The best thing to do when anger takes over you is to do nothing.
A Reflection By Reverend Father Evaristus Abu.
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