Capture the Little Foxes

UV 657/10,000 Capture the Little Foxes “ Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” Song of Solomon 2 v 15 There are many little foxes running into hundreds that nibble at our peace and joy. Peace and joy are key to our fruitfulness in life. But, the foxes subtly run around and damage the tender roots of our faith and the tender fruits of our lives. The Lord’s purpose is that human life be fruitful like a vineyard and that every vine grow well and bear fruit on every branch of life-physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, creative and social or relational. But, the enemy of our souls-satan attempts to thwart and hinder us in fulfilling the will of God in our lives. The foxes are described as “ little” as they are so small that they are not easily noticed. They can manifest in diverse ways: in a small difference of opinion between a husband and a wife, a belief that is not true or wholesome, a stray word that causes hurt and insult in order to damage a relationship, a little lie or deception that can damage a person’s peace of mind, a clandestine affection , an erroneous opinion that hardens into a prejudice, a small weakness that one has ignored, the tendency to gossip about others, the spirit of disunity and discord, a tiny bitterness about a past offence and so on. Satan operates on the principle, “ a little compromise can destroy a big promise.” Apart from the traps or early warning systems that we ourselves set up to catch the little foxes, we need to pray and ask for the Lord’s help in catching the foxes. We must strengthen the fencing around different fields in our lives. The Lord will place firewalls around those areas. We need to be ruthless in dealing with these little foxes. Like Samson, we need to set their tails on fire and sent them into the enemy’s or satan’s fields to plunder these areas. Setting their tales on fire implies that we turn these weaknesses into sources of strength and power for us. It implies that we hand over these areas of weakness to the Holy Spirit to sanctify and free us. Prateep V Philip