Sin Crouching at the Door?

Then the Lord said to Cain, "why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it." 

Gen 4:6,7

Crouching Sin
Have you ever wondered what "sin crouching at the door" would look like.

Well, I am from Texas, and I know EXACTLY what it looks like:

Yep! That is exactly what it looks like! Really!

And I know, because it seems I am constantly having to look out of these guys in my house!

I had just killed a really small one the other night (favorite method is to SMASH it very hard with a shoe). I had left it on the floor because frankly not only do I hate scorpions, but even after they are dead I still hate them so much I don't want to pick them up.

I am normally not such a sissy, by the way. I don't scream or faint when I see insects....well, except for scorpions. And snakes. I cannot claim any bravery at all when a slithering reptile is approaching!

Anyway, back to the story. I had already smashed one small scorpion in the doorway of my bedroom. I had gone out to the kitchen and then headed back down the hall to my bedroom- barefoot of course (will I never learn?!?!). As I approached my bedroom I slowed down to make sure that the little bugger was still flat as a pancake which would mean it was still dead, when I saw a most definitely un-flat, tail up, slightly bigger than I remembered scorpion.  I stopped, felt confused, and wondered if it had come back to life and gotten bigger??? Then I realized what you probably figured out several sentences ago- this was another one! Bigger! And in almost the exact same place!

So I did what all healthy, true-blue, American women do.....I screamed and called my husband to bring a shoe. I mean really. I had already killed my quota of scorpions for the day AND I was unarmed! (remember- no shoes).  And not only did my man smash the evil insect to smithereens, he also cleaned up not only his dead scorpion, he also picked up my little one! What a guy.

And this matters because?..?..?

And you wanted to know what these had to do with "sin crouching at the door"?

Well, I will tell you!

That scorpion reminded me of that verse out of Genesis where God is warning Cain to beware. Sin was waiting to pounce on Cain. And Cain was susceptible- God could tell by one good look at his face! Our faces so often scream out the inner ugliness of our heart. No matter how well we think we are hiding it, by the way!

And the very night I was being attacked (okay, not attacked, but really, two scorpions within 5 minutes of each other in the same place......coincidence???? I think not!), but back to the story....when I FELT attacked, at the exact same time I was dealing with a sin that was crouching at the door right beside that scorpion.

It was like God was giving me my own personal view into what my heart was looking like. What was the sin crouching at my door waiting for me to give it opportunity?

It was the sin of retaliation. The sin of "take that"! The sin of NOT turning the other cheek. The sin of defensiveness. The sin of the tongue.

That sin crouches rather persistently at my door. It is right there every time I feel wronged. It is there every time I feel misunderstood. It is there every time I feel accused of something.

Because I DON'T LIKE to be told I am wrong and I DON'T LIKE to be corrected and I DON'T LIKE to have my plans altered.

It's true. It may be too honest to admit that right here in the middle of the cyber world- but there it is and it is very, very true.

And the base of that sin is P.R.I.D.E.

I wish that every time it raises its big ugly tail to sting me, my Lord would gently remind me:

"why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it." 

OH. Really. I didn't realize.

My attitude matters that much?

Sin is just waiting for me?

And I am supposed to subdue it?

How do I do that?

The exact same way I subdued that ugly scorpion.

I take out my shoe (like the shoes of the Gospel of Peace maybe?) and smash that sin to smithereens. I don't allow it any ground and I don't let it get away.

I. Must. Subdue. It.

Not excuse it.

Not justify it.

Not compare it to someone else's.

Not ignore it.

I must take up my shoe and subdue it.

"We must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely"

Heb 12:1

Just think of it as spiritual "Pest Control"!