IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT GET US

 This post comes from an incident that happened to me Saturday morning.  

Oh wow, what a beautiful morning it was. Being that it was Saturday, I wasn't concerned with doing my daily 2 mile walk. BUT, it was a fantastic morning with a nice temperature, and low humidity. Perfect for some long needed pruning and timber cutting along my property line with my neighbor. My idea of fun?  NOT so much!!  But needful.  

My neighbor is a young fella, and I remember what it was like to be young, engaged, and single. Well, I sort of remember. Actually I have vague long forgotten recollections of that time, but it felt big of me to think that...thought.  Let me say that I decided I would hold off mowing the yard so that he could sleep late, so I grabbed my loppers, and my extension saw to do some much needed clean up of my property line. (Okay, that's more along the line of what I was really thinking, I think) Anyway, about an hour later my neighbor steps out to let his dog do his stuff, and we started talking about what I should leave along the property line and what I should cut down. He offered to do the work for me, but I said, NO, I could do it myself.  I figured if I couldn't do my own pruning, then I needed to be in the grave.  He put the dog in the house and took off to spend some time with his fiance. Unknown to me, while I was talking with him, I'd been standing squarely on a carpenter ant hill.  It was just a few minutes later when I began to feel them attacking my legs, my arms, and my chest.  To say the least they were all over me.  I quickly shed my shirt and began flailing at myself like a madman, hoping that no one drove by. I'm sure that the sight of me slapping my big old fat belly, and dancing around like a crazed man would have frightened anyone if they'd seen it. I could feel them biting and crawling in places that I don't like to think about, and I didn't want to be the source of unwanted laughter in the middle of my traumatic battle with the ferocious killer ants.  I also wasn't about to strip down to my skivvies out in the front yard, but dear God in heaven, I wanted to.  I began to pat and pound places that shouldn't be pounded on, while still being attacked by the ants.  I was leaping, shouting, and crying all at the same time. I finally got the garage door down and stripped down to my...well you know.  Just stripping down, I shook loose about twenty ants and stomped their bodies into the garage floor. I stomped what I'd just stomped, and then ground them into the floor, and stomped them again.  I was mad at them!!!  Then, I became mad at myself for not realizing where I'd been standing in the first place.  I'd seen them on the tree trunk and even remarked to my neighbor not to lean against the tree.  I shook out my clothes, stomped a couple of more killer ants and then went inside to get a shower. I was humiliated to say the least.

It's amazing how something as small as a carpenter ant can upset your day and bring you to a full rage in no time at all. The welts from their bites weren't as bad as being stung by wasps, or bees, but they still hurt.  After I got my shower I sat around the house in a pair of loose fitting shorts and nothing else. That ended my day in a hurry. 

As with almost everything that happens in my life, I quickly began looking for a spiritual analogy.  Then I remembered the verse that said "the little foxes that spoil the vine."  Boy, did those ants ruin my day!  

It's amazing how easy it is to mess up a scripture verse just to make it easier to remember. When I thought it, I opened up my Bible app and looked it up. Wow, I was amazed at how I'd been saying it wrong all this time.  The saying comes from Song of Solomon 2:15.  Song of Solomon????? What? That's a funny place for an oft quoted idiom. Even more amazing is how we've truncated it down to almost nothing.  The verse actually reads: "Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes."  I've heard the abbreviated version so many times that I skim over the depth of the full verse, and even the meat of the chapter that it is in.  

We all know the meaning of the thought that it is the little foxes that spoil the vine. It's the little things that can hurt our growth, and cause us to be unfruitful, but I was not prepared for the full revelation.  Chapter 2 is this wonderful revelation of our relationship to Christ.  Yes, I know it was written long before Jesus walked this earth, but the Song of Solomon has long been considered a love song between the Messiah and His bride.  There are so many sayings that we use today from Chapter 2, and this one is amazing.  The bride is asking her Lord to catch the little foxes that are nibbling away at the tender young fruit of the vineyard. The bride knows where her help comes from, and we see that Jesus becomes our 'love' who deals with the little things that ruin our lives. Once again we make it about what 'we' can do, but the plea is from the bride to the groom. Remove the little issues that keep us from growing fruitful.  That is exactly what Jesus did. He took the law and the traditions of men, and nailed them to the cross, and in so doing we can rest assured in His love, and grace.  

Yes, the admonition to pay attention to the little foxes is still there, but the bride knows that only her 'love' can catch them and keep them from nibbling away at their relationship. We become convinced that God only takes care of the big stuff in our lives, but we have to sweat the little things. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Jesus is invested completely in our relationship, in every minute detail, and even the big, almost impossible things.  The big question is, where are we standing?  How aware of our spiritual surroundings are we?  Are we oblivious to the little foxes, and how they destroy our relationship, or are we asking Jesus to help us catch them?  

When we become aware of the little foxes in our lives, we have to let our 'love' know we see them.  Ask Him to catch them and remove them.  Okay, let me put it in daily terms.  If you ignore, or excuse your little quirks of behavior, then you risk being fruitless. Believe me, if you see what is attacking your relationship and continue to turn a blind eye to it then it will ruin your relationship. If you are proud, and afraid of asking for help because you'd be embarrassed, then you don't have much trust in Jesus' love. He himself told us to cast our cares upon Him. He also told us He would make a way out of our transgressions. He doesn't leave us helpless.  He gave us His Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us through this life. He even warns us to stay away from or avoid the little foxes in our life so that we can enjoy a fruitful relationship.  I didn't realize it until today, but Jesus has been helping me all these years by removing the little foxes that spoiled our relationship. Without me even knowing what He was doing, He was teaching me how to place my trust in HIS ability to catch the foxes. It's one of the fringe benefits of being His love. Even more, when we fail, He is faithful, and Just to forgive us our sins.  Then, before you know it, you're walking through this life as a new creation that is a pleasing bride for Him.  Trust me, it's the little things that get us. Point out the little foxes in your life, and let Jesus catch them for you. It's a trust thing.