Genesis 4 + Psalm 4

Be angry, and do not sin;

ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices,

and put your trust in the Lord.

Psalm 4:4-5

The perfect guidance for when we find ourselves in a situation similar to Cain in Genesis 4:5-6. Cain becomes angry at God for not honoring his offering of fruits in the same way He honored Abel's offering of first born flock. The anger comes from the fact that God did not respond in the way Cain wanted Him to. We can feel angry but we cannot allow our anger to lead us into sin. Anger is always a response to something, if we take the guidance of Psalm 4:4 then we should ponder on anger in silence to find out why we feel the way we do.

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.

Genesis 4:7

When emotions are high, sin is right around the corner. The way we feel is much different than truth. Acting on emotion feels natural but is not always right. It is self-sacrificial when we choose God over our own emotion. It shows our trust in the Lord when we act in alignment with what He wants over what we feel (and we know what He wants through the truth of His word).

Cain acts on anger and kills his brother Abel, the consequence of his sin is further separation from the ground he worked. I read in a commentary that sin disconnects us from God and therefore, from nature. The more we sin, the more we can expect to be led away from God and from nature. The practical takeaway then is to examine our lives in silence and think about where our life is disconnected from nature. The consequence of sin is separation from God and from His creation and so to become less sinful and grow closer to God, it would make sense that we grow closer to the nature He created as well! I think this is why ceramics is so relaxing to me... it is basically hands in mud!