The Little Foxes

It says in the Bible in Song of Songs (also known as Song of Solomon) chapter 2, verse 15:

"Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom."

This week whilst trying to dig in, as a soldier would dig in to maintain their position (ironically a position which can be called a foxhole), the devil has sought to attack again. However one way in which the devil likes to have a go, but at the same time remain hidden and covert, is to have a go through lots of little things, rather than one big thing.

When it is a lot of little things we tend to just ignore them and assume it is simply 'just life'. Obviously there are many times when this is true, it is just life. The Bible after all is quite clear that in this world we will know trouble (John 16: 33), and it speaks in many places of the trials and tribulations we will go through. Some are because we are Christians, some simply because we live in a fallen world. However this week I feel that God has reminded me of holding my position and maintaining my position of faith in the little things as well as the big.

This year has come after six or seven years of real tribulation for myself and my family. We were hoping for a quieter and more peaceful year. In some ways we can see improvements. This time last year I was almost constantly in bed and unable to do anything. I am obviously well improved on that. Financially we are also a little better off than we were (a great measure of how we are doing is in the grocery shop - I can at the moment buy a few more of the brands that we really like, rather than the cheap, budget versions of food items - a great improvement!). However in many ways it has been yet another difficult year.

We entered the year on the back of a really stressful December. The main source of the stress was my husband's family. His brother and wife have taken a real dislike to us. It's a long story but despite all our best efforts to make things right between us they have been really hateful, and I don't use that term lightly, and the main reason for it, it would seem, is because we are Christians.

After that it was situations like the mechanic bringing our main family car back from its MOT (it's yearly road-worthy test) and telling us it didn't pass the test but it was broken and was no longer driveable (I can afford my favourite brand of crisps, not a car!). Then our fridge freezer broke. Then our dishwasher. Then both my sons, who had been having big issues at school, were diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum. All these issues were manageable by themselves, but put together they were incredibly draining and my husband and I spent much of the time stressed out and exhausted.

But finally they all settled down. After a month without the family car we got it fixed for £79!! The fridge freezer was fixed after 3 months of mis-diagnosis of the problem and wrong parts and a lot of money, but in the meantime a customer lent us a spare one for free. The problems with the boys are well on their way to being dealt with and things for my eldest son, who was suffering the most, have improved greatly through prayer and interaction. The dishwasher was replaced, again at a big cost, but praise God we had the money.

I hated all of those things at the time. In each situation fear immediately rushed in and it took quite some time to reach a point of trust. But I can see now how those things trained me. In every situation now I can see that 'This too shall pass', and if I trust God, no matter how long it takes to get sorted, the ride gets a little smoother. That training served me well this past week.

Of course, as per previous posts, one of main aims at the moment is to achieve possession of full health, which I believe, based on scripture, is my right as a Christian. That aim was sorely challenged yet again. I had felt very well on Monday and Tuesday - really well compared to how I had been feeling. I was able to do housework and really achieve quite a lot. However I awoke on Wednesday with awful nausea. I was due to work, and as nausea is something I have had quite a lot of over the past years with illness, I decided to get my head down and work through it.

I was able to work, in spite of not being able to drink much and certainly not managing more all morning other than a couple of biscuits, for which I was grateful. Then the real flu-like symptoms kicked in and I succumbed to some sort of virus. We normally meet great Christian friends on a Wednesday evening for prayer and I wasn't even up for that (an evening which often constitutes a highlight of my week), so I was really feeling rough. And I admit I did cry a little as whatever it was made me feel quite emotional. But then I felt the Lord assure me, via my husband first and then directly, that it was just a virus and I was able to not worry about it and work on maintaining my position.

We also had an interesting letter through the post this week. The street lights in our road are being changed. For some reason we have one in our front garden, so we spoke with the Council about having it moved, which they had already decided to do. However it sparked off a letter which stated that the street light wasn't in our garden, but that we, or previous occupants of our house, had 'stolen' or 'adpoted' six feet of the public highway into our front garden, at the front and at the side.

If the Council's claims were true it would mean not only would be lose a lot of what we deemed to be 'our' garden, but also side access to our house. It also meant the brick pillars on which our gates were hung, the gates and the hedge which shielded us from the street would all have to go. If the Council was right and we had known, we would not have purchased this house, such was the size of the claim.

It did worry me a bit, I cannot claim that it didn't. But I did choose to trust almost immediately. That meant I did not lose any sleep over it, and praise God within 2 days of receiving the letter we had a call that said that not only was the street light was being moved out of our garden, but the land was also highly likely to be ours and no further action would be taken. Praise God!

In 'normal' life, a little letter from the Council and a virus would not constitute much. But in life as it currently stands, with the string of stresses and much illness behind me, it doesn't take much to push me over the edge. But I am grateful that I understand now, that if only I will trust Him in spite of how things look, if I will commit to walking by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5: 7), He will bring me through. And if He will do it for me, He will do it for you, as He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10: 34; Romans 2: 11).

My prayer is that it won't just be the big things that rock us, but we will also watch how those smaller things, the 'little foxes', won't be allowed to get a foothold and ruin our fruitfulness for God. "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." Ephesians 6: 10. And, as always, may God bless you and yours.