Cain left the presence of God and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The word "Nod" means wandering...

Cain left God's presence and went wandering.

He was so discouraged by his interaction with God that he went wandering in the wilderness. God Himself calls Cain into a life of wandering...

"You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Disheartened.

Straying.

Aimless.

There was nothing he could do. There was no solution. No bridging the void. No forgiveness. No second chance. No clean slate. No options...

Despair set in as he walked slowly away from God, his mistake and regret in tow.

I read this story and find such incredible gratitude in it, because this is NOT the case for us.

In Christ, we hold the power of immeasurable freedom. 

Don't let darkness ever tell you otherwise.

You are free.

You have overcome.

We are victorious. Even when you don't feel it. Even when sin is sitting in front of you. Even when a fresh regret is settling into your soul.

Disengage those thoughts of guilt. They grieve Jesus' Spirit.

Show your gratitude to Jesus, and all He's done for us, by grasping His offer of forgiveness with a strong hand.

Trust in what it means to be forgiven. Don't let it be some cute saying you "believe in", but let it become a part of who you are. Weave it into the fabric of your soul. Write it on the tablet of your heart. Bind it around your neck.

And soon enough you'll find your spirit tiptoeing back towards Eden...

For me, Genesis 3 is completely devastating in its likeness to my own life.

And yet as I read, I am overwhelmed with hope. 

First, I share a frightening resemblance to Eve. Before she even sins, I see her speaking with the serpent—knowingly placing herself in a tempting situation. How many times have I allowed myself to be in a place that I knew could lead me down a road of disobedience? See... Even before I disobey, I walk up to the line.

Don’t I know by now? Just talking with the serpent—or just allowing myself to be in certain situations or places or frames of mind—is bound to lead to separation from God. Eve should have seen that snake comin’ and turned the other way. In my own life I should see the actions that usually precede separation from God, and turn away before I’m tempted. But most times I don’t, and that’s the devastating part.

Enter sin. 

But then in the text, verse 8, God shows up.

While they’re scrambling to cover their shame, it says Adam and Eve heard God walking amidst the garden. And He calls to them. God meets Adam and Eve where they are. That is incredible to me! Here they are, naked and helplessly trying to cover up their sin toward God, and He is the one who reaches out. So often in my shame, I imagine God is offended by what I‘ve done. But no, He makes the first move toward reconciliation. 

And then in verse 21 it says, “the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and he clothed them.” God not only shows up—He reaches out and clothes them. 

There is so much hope in that!

Despite our wanderings, there is always opportunity for reconciliation and restoration. And that is only because of God’s response to our sin. While we are upset with ourselves, or bitter, or wounded, or guilty . . . God is already there. And by Jesus’ sacrifice He clothes us in righteousness. 

Amen, amen.

Everyone understands the guilt that follows a fall...

A mistake made.

A moment of weakness.

A freshly formed regret.

But how does God view it?

As punishment, does He angrily send more stumbling blocks our way?

Or does He quietly point to the cross?

Does He prepare a speech of how broken we are to rub in our faces?

Or does He quietly point to the cross?

The truth is: when we fall away from God, any sidestep at all, it breaks God's heart. But it doesn't break His heart out of frustration with us. He doesn't have man's patience that snaps with the smallest irritation.

His heart breaks because He knows we'll be discouraged, and likely we'll try to hide for a while... We'll intentionally avoid God, for fear of more guilt and regret. That's what breaks His heart.

Hiding breaks His heart.

The best way to fight against sin is to RUN back to God immediately afterwards. Yes, we might've fallen for a moment, but we're not letting darkness ruin our lives, or even our day, or even the next hour.

If sin caught you and drew you in for a moment, don't linger there.

Run.

No matter how far you wandered, or how deep you traveled down the rabbit hole, you've got a Father waiting for you when you get home.

With open arms, and a clean slate.

Be encouraged,

-John

We'll be posting daily devotionals, thoughts, latest news, and resources there. We're going to have 9 contributors to the blog, all from Harbor's community, all with distinctly different voices.

I'm excited for this blog, because it's going to be a great way to continue our conversations past Sunday mornings.

I hope you'll join us.

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-John

Our hope is that EVERY person that calls Harbor home gets plugged into a small group.

That's why we have events like this... An opportunity to meet small group leaders, hear about what they're studying, when and where, etc.

We want you to join a small group on January 15th. We will be gathering in our Café after each service. Be sure to stop by some of the tables and meet a few leaders.

We have well over a hundred people in small groups at Harbor, will you join our community?

If you have any questions about small groups, please feel free to email Jeff at jeff@harborofhope.org