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For the past couple of weeks at Grace Church we have been discussing “the crossroad with a Goliath” in it, and we’ve been trying to learn some giant-slaying keys from David’s famous example. There are times in our lives, however, when our enemies are much smaller than Goliath. They’re not 9 ½ feet tall, fear-inducing giants with thirty pound spears—they’re foxes. They stand about two feet off the ground, and they’re small enough to be chased away with a stick. They’re not nearly as terrifying as Goliath, and they don’t evoke the same sense of urgency or dread. And yet according to King Solomon, they’re dangerous enough to destroy God’s work in our lives. He wrote: “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom” (Song of Songs 2:15).
I would hate to survive Goliath only to be taken out by a fox.
One of the most fascinating, Holy Spirit-powered exploits that Samson performed in the book of Judges was when he “caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs” (Judges 15:4). It’s a powerful, encouraging reminder that the Lord will help us identify the foxes that lurk in the “vineyards” of our life, and He will give us the strategy and strength to intentionally declare “open hunting season” on them.