God's Gentle Confrontation

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, we see God gently confronting them.  You would think that God would immediately come down hard on Adam and Eve, but Genesis 3:8-13 recounts four calm and loving questions God asks them (even though He already knew the answers):  "Where are you?...  Who told you...?  Have you eaten...?  What is this you have done?"

We see the same gentle confrontation with Cain in Genesis 4:6-9, even before Cain slew his brother:  "Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?"

Then God counsels Cain:  "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."

Even after Cain lets his anger take over, violently attacking and killing his innocent brother, God  gives Cain an opportunity for repentance with a gentle question:  "Where is your brother Abel?"

In Genesis 6:5 and 12, God acknowledges the horrible wickedness of ALL living persons (except righteous Noah).  "Every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time!...for ALL humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction."

God explains to Noah that He is going to destroy all mankind by a worldwide flood, but that through an ark that Noah will build, God will save Noah and his family and representations of each kind of animal, bird, and creeping thing.  So Noah (starting at age 480) diligently works away on the ark for 120 years.  About 20 years into the work, Noah's first son is born. 

But notice......all the while Noah is working, he is constantly preaching to the lost (I Peter 1:11 and I Peter 3:19-20).  So here again, we have God gently confronting.  For 120 years, God's patience prevails with these horribly wicked people!!

But, out of possibly 3 billion people at that time, not one repents, including Noah's father, Lamech, and grandfather, Methuselah.  Both have walked with Adam (Lamech was 65 when Adam died), and Methuselah has seen his own father (Enoch) walk so closely with God that Enoch was actually "transferred" to heaven instead of having to die (Hebrews 11:5).  But Methuselah dies the year of the flood, at age 969, without God, and Lamech dies 5 years before the flood, at age 777, also still entrenched in his own wickedness, notwithstanding that their own son and grandson had been God's instrument, for somewhere between 75 and 120 years, to plead for their repentance.

Today, God still gently confronts us, as His own children, through the Holy Spirit Whom He so graciously implanted in our hearts, quietly and lovingly pleading with us to turn from sin areas in our life and walk fully with Him.  Sometimes we listen; sometimes we don't.  But He continually and patiently calls us to "master the sin that is crouching at our door".

Lord, thank you for Your extreme patience with each of our areas of sin.  Thank you for becoming our substitute lamb for those multitudes of sins.  Help us to listen to and obey Your gentle, quiet voice within us.  Teach us to master those sins, bringing joy to Your heart and praise to Your name.