TROUBLING FOXES
Read this passage as God speaking to us, his beloved.
The one I love calls to me.
Arise, my dearest. Hurry my darling (complete one). Come away with me!
I have come as you have asked to draw you to my heart and lead you out.
For now is the time my beautiful one!…
How beautiful your eyes of worship and lovely your voice of prayer.
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.
Song of Songs 2:10, 14b-15 TPT
“These ‘foxes’ are the compromises that are hidden deep in our hearts. These are areas of our lives where we have not yet allowed the victory of Christ to shine. The foxes keep the fruit of his Spirit from growing within us.” (Commentary from The Passion Translation on Song of Songs vs. 15)
As a counselor one of the things I enjoy the most is helping people come into an awareness of what behaviors and thoughts are hurting themselves and others, especially when that person knows the Lord and is seeking to grow closer to him. The passage above calls these, troubling foxes that hinder our relationships. God wants to reveal to us those beliefs and behaviors that are keeping us from loving and being loved.
When we receive Jesus as our Savior, God through his Spirit begins to transform us from the inside out into the likeness of Christ. We are saved, but our old nature is still at work and we have to allow God to prune us to help us grow. Much of that pruning is done through our interactions with those closest to us, and our listening to God’s word and his Spirit. Then we can humbly receive his seeds of truth and get rid of the lies and broken strategies we have been using to try to fix ourselves.
Since you have learned about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.
Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Ephesians 4:21-25 NLT
The thing about throwing off the old and putting on Christ is that you have to be willing to look at yourself and recognize when you are acting out of that old sinful nature. For example, the father who is talking negatively to his daughter has to be aware of what he is doing and how it is impacting their relationship. The wife who is feeling lonely and craving intimacy has to gain insight about how her emotional rantings are causing her husband to shut down and withdraw. You get the point. In order for us to experience the abundant life that Jesus promised us, we have to be willing to look closely at ourselves and find those compromises, or troubling foxes, that the enemy of our souls has tricked us into doing and believing.
As we enter this new year of 2025 let’s determine to surrender every area of our lives into obedience to Christ. Take a look at your life and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those places where our brokenness is creating a barrier that is keeping us from drawing close to God and blocking the flow of his love through us to others.
Finally, believers, rejoice! Be made complete [be what you should be],
be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace
[enjoy the spiritual well-being experienced by believers who walk closely with God];
and the God of love and peace [the source of loving-kindness] will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11 AMP
God bless you all in 2025,
Betsy O’Callaghan