The Saboteurs. The Little Foxes That Spoil the Vine

The most vulnerable point of change is at the beginning, but if we can catch the little foxes that spoil the vine, those things that would want to kill new growth, then we can find the change.

It’s spring here in New Zealand, and for grape growers, it’s the riskiest time of the entire year.

The tender little flowers are vulnerable.

They don’t look like normal flowers, do they, but these spiky little blossoms once pollinated will develop into delicious grapes.

The greatest fear of a grape grower at this time of the year is the risk of frost. Hard cold ice can freeze the flowers, burning their potential.

It’s in the early stages of change where we are most vulnerable.

Have you ever noticed that when you want to change that it’s in the very early stages of the process that you are most vulnerable to sabotage? Either self-sabotage or sabotage by others.

You have had an idea, and immediately a self-sabotaging thought happens. The blossom is destroyed.

You mention a potential change, and someone comes along and throws a wet blanket of doubt or criticism over it. The blossom of hope withers up and drops to the ground.

I have learned to be very selective about whom I share my life with.

An idea blossoms. It’s at risk of being frosted or attacked by disease, so I share it only with those who I know will nurture it with as much love and care that I have.

Saboteurs of our change can come in all sorts of forms.

Old thinking habits
Friends
Family
Spiritual forces Ephesians 6:12

What comes early in your change process to destroy the potential harvest?

Perhaps it’s like a little fox.

Little foxes spoil the vine

There is a little poem from the love story of Song of Solomon.

‘Catch us the foxes,
the little foxes,
that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in blossom.’ Song of Solomon 2:15

There is a tenderness in this proverb.

The vineyard is in blossom. The potential of an abundant harvest is laid out, but it’s at risk.

The saboteur is a little fox.

A little fox could come and destroy the eat the bark of the vine and ruin the potential of what could happen.

The Song of Solomon is a love story and speaks poetically of the romance between two young lovers.

Early in a relationship, things can be tender. Words said can be misinterpreted and false conclusions reached.

It’s in the early days as we are establishing a connection to shared values and beliefs that change is vulnerable. In the early days, we have to ‘catch the little foxes’, the subtle saboteurs, that would sneak in and try to destroy the flowering of commitment and love.

This early stage of commitment was so important that a law was given to protect this relationship vine.

When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty.
He shall be free at home for one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married. Deuteronomy 24:5

Recovery and rebuild

One of my favourite stories of rebuild and recovery is the story of Nehemiah and his rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

In this story of recovery, there are little foxes. The subtle and the not-so-subtle saboteurs. Everyone of them was there to destroy the rebuild.

If you want to read about them, they are in my book Broken to Built.

Here is one of them

Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he mocked the Jews.

He said in the presence of his associates and of the army of Samaria,

‘What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish—and burnt ones at that?’

Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, ‘That stone wall they are building—any fox going up on it would break it down!’ Nehemiah 4:1-3

Have you ever started out on something new and then been mocked, ridiculed, or shamed?

Have you ever told yourself, ‘What a waste of time’

Perhaps others have told you that.

I’ve had that told to me about my writing. It hurt, but it was a little fox, so I caught it and threw it out of my vineyard.

Nehemiah’s saboteurs were sending out sabotage messages through the social media grapevine.

This was a constant challenge for Nehemiah. To catch the little foxes. To stop them from getting into the heart motivation of the people.

The wall was completed because the people had ‘a mind to work’

So we rebuilt the wall, and all the wall was joined together to half its height; for the people had a mind to work. Nehemiah 4:6

A mind to work

Do you have ‘a mind to work?’

Most people don’t.

After doing this type of ministry for now 25 years, I have met probably only a handful of people who have truly dedicated themselves to the work of deep soul change.

Most people’s progress gets nipped in the bud by little foxes. Little saboteurs. Little fears and challenges.

All of which need to be caught and sent away.

You and your little foxes.

What are your little foxes?

You want to make a change, but an old thought pattern clicks in. The blossom withers away.

You share a desire to change with someone, and immediately they pose all the problems. The blossom withers away.

The change you want to see happen feels like a giant mountain, and you feel like a little hobbit. The blossom withers away.

People from your past throw ghost echoes at you. ‘What you’re wanting to build, a fox could walk on it and it will fall over. ‘ The blossom withers away.

Perhaps you need to catch the little foxes.

Catch my little foxes

Help me catch my foxes
Those that want to destroy the vine
They sneak in like a saboteur
All subtle and sublime

Help me to see that furry cuteness
Has a sinister motive in store
To take what you have planted in my soul
To steal, kill and destroy

I will catch the little foxes
I will grab them by the tail
Throw them out of the vineyard
Let them weep, let them wail

Grow the harvest God
From blossom until harvest full
Keep me ever vigilant
For enemies coming through

I am building a Jerusalem wall
Making something new
Out of tired old rubble
Rejected by many but not by you

Help me build a new life
Each stone known by you
Build me with a neighbour
Blossomed harvest growing through

Barry Pearman

Quotes to consider

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. Indira Gandhi
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it. George Bernard Shaw
We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean will be less because of that missing drop. Mother Teresa
Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dreams. Anonymous

Questions to answer

Can you identify the little foxes that sabotage your hopes of change?
Are there any particular people who subtly or overtly sabotage your life?
Why do so few people ‘do the work’?

Formation exercise

Name the little foxes. Get a little notebook and observe any little distractions, fears, or worries that might make an appearance in the vineyard of your mind when you start to think about change. Name them. Write them down. Catch them. What are you going to do with them? Feed them or starve them?