Face-to-Face

“So Cain went out from the LORD's presence
and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”

(Genesis 4:16)

Scripture says that Cain departed from the LORD’S presence. Literally, Cain, was standing face-to-face with God. He “went out” from that place and settled and lived in the land of Nod. The verse, at face value is pretty straight forward. However, if you look at the place where Cain left and then the place where he would dwell the verse begins to communicate some pretty applicable truths for our present lives.

The word “Nod” means, “place of wandering” or “of aimless fugitive.” Cain began to dwell in a place that its very name meant aimless, purposeless, and wandering.Any time we “depart” from the Lord’s presence, we depart from the place of direction, understanding and perspective. Furthermore, in those times there will be a sense of aimlessness, purpose will be less clear, and our perspective will be skewed. During these times and seasons our mind and emotions will be prone to entertain thoughts and feelings that will not reflect Reality... discouragement, dissillusion, discontentment to name a few. If what we're believing is'nt founded on truth, then what we're feeling will not be reality. If we are not careful during these times, we will be prone to come to conclusions and make decisions that will not be directed by Wisdom, nor inspired by Truth.

The best thing we can do is recognize that we are living in "Nod." We have departed from the place that keeps our reality insync with His Reality.Something happens as we commit ourselves to meeting with Him daily – face-to-face. When we do this, we begin to see things differently. We begin to see life as He sees it. Journaling can be a powerful tool to help us recognize the lie, gain perspective and hear His Truth. But to hear, we must be "in His Presence."

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God;then I understood…”
(Psalm 73:17)