The first lament recorded in Scripture is found in Genesis 4, when a brother’s malice ends in death. God had shown favor to Abel—who worshiped genuinely—and his brother Cain was jealous. I can relate to this because I was never the favored child in our home growing up. Favoritism hurts, and even though my hurt didn’t lead me to killing my brother, the bitterness left inside my heart still caused me to sin.
Cain’s hurt led him to attack Abel, eventually killing him. Our hurt, left unlamented, always hurts others. God then asks Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
Cain replies saying, “I don’t know. . . . Am I my brother’s guardian?” (Gen. 4:9). Eventually, when God names Cain’s sin and its consequences, Cain laments, “My punishment is too great for me to bear!” (v. 13).
How many of us think we can hide our evil from God? If not blatant evil, what about the hidden sin inside our hearts? What do we do with bitterness, rage, and envy? Do we think we can fool God by concealing our sin from him or not answering him? What happens when we keep our hurts from God?
More often than not, I am tempted to avoid answering God’s questions. I either deflect to something else, ignore him, or try to make my answer sound spiritual when it’s really not. Answering God with an “I don’t know” is not only dishonest; it puts a wall up between God and us.
Esther Fleece is the author of No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending (Zondervan). You can find Esther at www.EstherFleece.com and on Twitter at @EstherFleece.
