“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:6–7).
When Cain killed Abel, Scripture tells us that God came to him and asked, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:6–7). These words are among the most revealing statements in the early chapters of the Bible, because they uncover a deep spiritual law that governs human happiness. Cain was not sorrowful because God had made his life difficult; he was sorrowful because his own choices had led him into darkness. His anger, jealousy, and disobedience bore fruit in the misery he carried upon his face.
God’s question teaches us that many of our sufferings do not come from God, nor from fate, nor from other people, but from the choices we ourselves make. There is a sadness that comes from external trials—which God uses to purify us—but there is also a sadness that comes from internal disorder. Cain’s sorrow was not the sadness of a trial, but the sadness of a disobedient heart.
God’s words ring out with fatherly wisdom:
“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?”
Meaning: If you choose the good, you will find peace; if you choose what is right, joy will naturally follow.
Holiness produces happiness.
Obedience produces peace.
A pure conscience is one of the sweetest gifts God gives His children.
What a contrast this is to the sadness produced by envy, hatred, lust, pride, dishonesty, and resentment! These vices crush the spirit just as surely as Cain’s jealousy crushed his. Many people today walk with fallen faces—not because God has withheld joy from them, but because they continually choose the very things that rob the soul of joy.
And yet God’s mercy is astonishing. Notice that even after Cain sinned, God still speaks to him, still invites him, still calls him back to the path of life. In the same way, whenever our hearts grow heavy because of wrong choices, God does not condemn us and leave us wandering. He calls us back with the same gentle question:
“Why are you sad? If you do what is right, you will be happy.”
This is not a threat; it is an invitation. It is God pointing the human heart back to the source of true joy:
Choosing the good. Choosing righteousness. Choosing God.
So hear this truth deeply:
You will be happy if you do the right thing.
Not because life will be perfect, but because your heart will be aligned with the One who is perfect.
