Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch... - Genesis 4:15-24

Most often, we fear the action of confession because we have more fear for the consequences of exposing our sin. Mankind hasn't always been kind to those who choose humility. Often, the person confessing goes through undue humiliation because power and control can distort the compassion of its possessor.

Instead of responding in grace, agents of the newly revealed information may choose to gossip against the confessor. Others will use the data shared as a dagger for total recollection at convenient times of manipulation. While the worst offenders will publicly demoralize the confessor by taking a moral high ground as though they could not would sin.

So, people choose to remain silent and harbor their misdeeds in hopes of privately overcoming them. Overcoming often never happens unless God, in His grace, would be so kind.

And that's the key: God's grace! He is the only one Who can hold us to a standard, judge us and restore us! This is how He handles every person who yields to His will, receiving Christ as Lord and Savior.

In an authentic relationship with God, through Christ, the person goes through an amazing transformation that no human can prevent; no matter how powerful they may be perceived. God exacts a stronghold under His people.

Notice the word was stronghold and not barrier! Our success is undergirded by God but that doesn't mean we will be free from the pain nor consequence of attacks. It will be used to refine us more to reflect true believers in Christ (Romans 5:3-5; 8:28-30).

The great comfort of this passage is that: 1) even a killer like Cain can find sanctuary in God; and 2) no matter the entity nor threat; neither can adversely affect the eternal status of any citizen of Heaven. This is not a reason to boast in our depravity (Romans 6:1-4) but celebrate in God's gracious charity (Ephesians 1:3-10).