Catching Little Foxes
People sometimes ask me, “What does your work week look like?” And while I have many standing meetings, each day has a lot of variety. Whether I’m rotating around Northstar Church where I serve in different capacities, or praying alongside small businesses, or teaching groups or mentoring individuals, I often find myself doing similar and familiar things. Things like, talking with people and talking with God, listening to people and listening to God. Some combination of this is always involved, which often helps people see God’s truth from different perspectives.
Recently a business friend asked advice regarding a family conflict he’s embroiled in. The pain and frustration are real and have gone on a long time. The desire for resolution seems genuine. However, each party feels justified in their own eyes and unwilling to budge. The collateral damage on family relationships is mounting, each believing a poor reflection of the other.
It’s hard to keep perspective, when you’re so fully self-convinced. It can be a blind spot. There is a way of being “right” that can also be completely “wrong.”
The Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end leads to death.” (Prov.14:12)
There is still hope, especially if humble hearts prevail, which has been my counsel. “Step back and look up,” I hear the Lord say. Someone needs to go low for the sake of relationship. But right now, others are watching. Perhaps looking to take advantage.
The spring has put all the local wildlife are in motion. It’s a flurry of activity in our backyard as flora and fauna put on a show, each displaying and establishing territories. Mating season is in full force, and the bird battle for backyard dominance is especially comical.
A couple of male red-breasted robins have been attacking one another, making all kinds of squawking and commotion. They battle at the drop of a hat. So focused are they that when one sees its reflection in our sliding glass door, it will attack with such ferocity that it sounds like someone knocking on the door. I’ve rushed downstairs a handful of times, expecting to see a neighbor at the door, only to find a robin with its chest puffed out, beating its wings, and pecking against the window. It drives our dog batty. It fights like Don Quixote against his imaginary foe.
But you know what? That’s not the only red-coated friend frequenting the backyard this year. In fact, a sly mother fox has been prowling the neighborhood, as well. I’ve seen her skill, too. She pounces on unsuspecting squirrels digging for nuts. She outwits darting chipmunks on woodpiles. I’ve seen her with a few other mouthfuls of fur that I couldn’t identify. She must have a litter of pups nearby, as I see her prancing about at all hours of the day.
The grass is growing at double speed, too (and so is my sneezing), and while out mowing the front lawn, I saw her trotting across the driveway heading towards my backyard. I quickly made a pass with the mower in hopes of catching a glimpse of her. Perhaps she’ll use the side yard as her getaway, I thought. Sure enough, a few moments later she emerged, only her mouth was full of that flapping, blustery robin. She paused momentarily to reposition her bite and then proudly trotted up the side yard towards the street. A fresh catch for hungry little mouths.
I knew exactly what had happened. That robin, so full of itself, was fighting its own reflection on our patio sliding door. All the commotion caught the eyes and ears of a clever mother fox, who took advantage of the opportunity of the self-absorption to snatch an easy meal. I’m sure the robin never saw her coming.
Kind of reads like one of Aesop’s fables, doesn’t it? You can draw the lessons out yourself.
Sometimes the enemy prowls in like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), loudly and fearfully, at other times more like that of a sly fox, looking for opportunity. “Step back and look up” could be a prayer that keeps you from being devoured. Are you experiencing a roaring lion or a sly fox these days?
Does a desire to “be right” keep you from “being good” in relationships? We all have blind spots that reflect our self-importance.
The Lord once told me, “The true measure of a man is how much Jesus is seen in your reflection.” What do you see? What do others perceive? What does God see?