Catching the Little Foxes

This morning I was praying & asking God to help me press deeper into His presence, despite the reservations I sometimes feel that make me draw back. I felt led to Song of Solomon Chp 2, and that opened a conversation with God that I wanted to share here. All quotes are from the Passion Translation…

v 14: “you are my dove, hidden in the split-open rock.
It was I who took you and hid you up high
in the secret stairway of the sky.
Let me see your radiant face and hear your sweet voice.
How beautiful your eyes of worship
and lovely your voice in prayer”

I love how God sees us in such a positive way, even when we are doubting ourselves! And I am so thankful that He has hidden each of us in a split-open rock – ie a secure place, hidden from others, and fashioned just for us as individuals!
The next verse gets a bit more direct and personal…

v15: “You must catch the troubling foxes,
those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship.
For they raid our budding vineyard of love
to ruin what I’ve planted within you.
Will you catch them and remove them for me?
We will do it together.”

God passionately wants to develop our relationship with Him too – and here He asks us to take responsibility for catching – and removing the little ‘foxes’ or issues that get in the way of our relationship with Him. We are not alone in it – He promises to help – but we need to consciously work on it. So as I read I responded asking Him to show me what the little foxes are in our relationship. Then I carried on reading, and found my answer in the next couple of verses…

v16,17: “ I know my lover is mine and I have everything in you,
for we delight ourselves in each other.
But until the day springs to life
and the shifting shadows of fear disappear,
turn around, my lover, and ascend
to the holy mountains of separation without me.
Until the new day fully dawns,
run on ahead like the graceful gazelle
and skip like the young stag
over the mountains of separation.
Go on ahead to the mountain of spices—
I’ll come away another time.”

Wow! It couldn’t be much clearer: those ‘little foxes’ are fear! The Shulamite represents us in our relationship with Jesus (the Bridegroom). In this passage she – compelled by the “shifting shadows of fear” – entreats her lover who she delights in, to leave – to go to the mountains of separation without her! It is fear that separates us from a loving relationship with God: fear is a fox. There may be other ‘little foxes’ but this one really stood out to me here, and I had to admit that I have sometimes allowed fear to ruin the intimacy that Jesus wants to grow in us. But I don’t want Him to go ahead while I refuse to go with Him just because of fear! So I read further into Chapter 3 to find out how to address it…

v1-4: “Night after night I’m tossing and turning on my bed of travail.
Why did I let him go from me?
How my heart now aches for him,
but he is nowhere to be found!
So I must rise in search of him,
looking throughout the city,
seeking until I find him.
Even if I have to roam through every street,
nothing will keep me from my search.
Where is he—my soul’s true love?
He is nowhere to be found.
Then I encountered the overseers as they encircled the city.
So I asked them, “Have you found him—
my heart’s true love?”
Just as I moved past them, I encountered him.
I found the one I adore!
I caught him and fastened myself to him,
refusing to be feeble in my heart again.“

The consequences of pushing Jesus away because we are afraid of intimacy with Him, is always regret. Here the Shulamite was robbed of sleep because she ached to be restored to relationship with her lover. So she did the only sensible thing, and got out of bed to search for Him again (getting our relationship with God straight is more important than mere physical needs). She was not half-hearted in her search, but roamed every street. She asked for advice from those in the know – may we never be too proud to ask for help from our spiritual guides when we feel we have lost sight of our relationship with Jesus. And finally she found Him again. He ALWAYS wants to be found by us (Matthew 7:7); it’s never too late.

And here’s the key in v4: she caught Him and fastened herself to Him, refusing to be feeble in her heart again. Feebleness is part of the human condition. Feebleness, like fear, is a fox that most of us live with daily, to a greater or lesser degree. But Jesus desires intimacy with us – He wants deep relationship with us, not just that of a superficial acquaintance. We must be whole-hearted in our pursuit of Him, knowing that He wants to be found, but never allowing fear of intimacy to cause us to push Him away.

If we keep reading through the chapter we see a glorious description of the majesty of our Bridegroom – I encourage you to read it – and the chapter ends with overwhelming joy and great gladness…

v11: “Rise up, Zion maidens, brides-to-be!
Come and feast your eyes on this king
as he passes in procession on his way to his wedding.
This is the day filled with overwhelming joy—
the day of his great gladness”

Finally (for the sake of this blog post – and because I couldn’t stop myself from reading further) if we read Chp 4 we see the Bridegroom speaking of His bride’s new life, washed clean and pure:

v2: “When I look at you,
I see how you have taken my fruit and tasted my word.
Your life has become clean and pure,
like a lamb washed and newly shorn“

What a beautiful reflection of the Christian’s new birth in Jesus when we surrender to Him, much like the Shulamite’s words of surrender…

v6: “I’ve made up my mind.
Until the darkness disappears and the dawn has fully come,
in spite of shadows and fears,
I will go to the mountaintop with you—
the mountain of suffering love
and the hill of burning incense.
Yes, I will be your bride.”

And at the very end of Chapter 4 she says, “Come walk with me until I am fully yours.
Come taste the fruits of your life in me“

So let’s make that our prayer, today and always: no little foxes of fear and feebleness – just surrender to a lifelong relationship of love with Jesus, that His life in each of us would be fruitful and we will be fully His.