The big & small of it...

I recently came to understand the story of Cain and Abel in a new way. I thought of this story as "Cain brings food instead of animals to God, God gets mad, Cain gets jealous, Cain kills brother." When I pay attention to the text (and I think becoming a parent helps a lot) I see this in a new light.
Cain brings the sacrifice of his own hard work to God. God has asked for something different, a sacrifice that is the work of God, not the work of a man. When God doesn't accept Cain's sacrifice, Cain get's mad. God says "Why are you angry?...If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." Gen. 4:6,7
What to sacrifice seems like a small issue. God, however, sees the bigger picture. God sees that by allowing Cain to slip by with this little showing of pride, the bigger evil of SIN will come in and hurt Cain more. How many times as a parent to I stop a small misbehavior so that the bigger one doesn't follow it its wake? This wasn't God being overly picky, this was God being a good dad!
Unfortunately, in the rest of the story, we see that Cain overreacts and kills his brother. God still acts lovingly, punishing Cain by making him leave home, but protecting him throughout the rest of his life.
We fall under this same temptation all the time. To let the little things slide in our daily interactions with others and with God. Little bits of pride, anger, resentment, etc. seep through and we think "no biggie, it's just a small thing." This passage is a great reminder that there are no small things.
Does this seem overwhelming? The Bible doesn't leave it to us to get better. God saw how easily we fall and provided. Hebrews 2: 18 says "For in that He Himself (Jesus) has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted." Not only does Jesus understand what we are going through, but has taken it upon himself. As John the Baptist proclaimed "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
Today I pray God's help in the small things...and the big.