January 16, 2022 - Finding Our Way in the Crossroads of Life - Pastor Paul Vallee

One of God’s great expressions of mercy toward us is to address issues in our lives. We find this right from the very beginning in the story of Cain and Abel, in which Abel’s offering to God is accepted while Cain’s offering is rejected. The response of Cain is very enlightening and may give us a clue as to why God did not receive his offering with favour. Cain’s reaction was anger and moodiness. Notice God’s response to Cain as a warning that, if heeded, would have changed the course of his life. Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.[i] God was addressing the issue in Cain’s life before it took control of him and caused him to act out in anger, murder his brother and alienate himself further both from God and others. God is always trying to get our attention. When we deviate from His purposes, He will speak into our lives. The Scriptures are filled with instructions, words of promise and encouragement, but we also find sections of warnings. Here in Jeremiah 6, we find that God is calling for a decision to move them in the right direction while warning them of the dangers of ignoring His counsel. Jeremiah has a vision of what is about to occur. …Jeremiah employs an event-vision to describe the future judgment of God on his people. An event-vision describes a future occurrence as if it were a present event.[ii] Three things we need to understand from God’s warnings will help us make wise decisions in 2022.