Song of Solomon | Kristi's Morning Devotional

July 15, 2023July 15, 2023

God Is Bigger

The last few days I have been frustrated by a hatch of small beetle-type insects. This may be a common occurrence this time of year but they are annoying.

They are everywhere and get into everything. They are black with a little bit of red on their sides, they have wings but they don’t fly much. They crawl and of course are drawn to the light. Dave reminded me yesterday, “don’t worry, they’ll be gone just as quickly as they came”. It can’t be soon enough for me!

While I was muttering about these little pests, I almost missed the gorgeous sunrise that was appearing through my window. Isn’t that how it is so often? We make mountains out of molehills and we miss out on the beauty that God provides.

God is bigger than our problems, bigger than our annoyances!

King Solomon made a simple statement that I have learned to rely on in times like these.

“Catch the foxes for us— the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. Our vineyard is now in bloom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 ERV

This verse is right in the middle of a love sonnet. How strange! But I think it’s a reminder, a caution that we should deal with the little things of life, not letting them create stress and go on.

“We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. ¹⁸So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.” II Corinthians 4:17-18 ERV

The “small troubles” in Paul’s life were things like ship wrecks, beatings, imprisonment, stoning, constant harassment. Little foxes — small troubles.

God is bigger!

Just now as I am writing this one of those small annoyances just crawled across my keyboard. So, what do we do when the stress starts to build and the annoyances come?

“I look to the hills! Where will I find help? ²It will come from the Lord, who created heaven and earth. ³The Lord is your protector, and he won’t go to sleep or let you stumble.” Psalm 121:1-3 CEV

With that I’m on my way out to enjoy the sunrise and the majesty of the Father. My God is bigger than anything!

November 16, 2022November 16, 2022

Little Foxes

This morning I am reminded of the little things that try to steal our joy and gratitude. You see, night before last I made spaghetti for dinner. I was sampling the sauce, straight from the pot, and I blistered the roof of my mouth. Ouch!

Then yesterday morning, I wasn’t able to enjoy my coffee because my mouth was still tender and very sensitive to the heat. Same thing this morning, but not as severe. This made me realize how many times “little foxes” spoil our productivity and our praise. I was complaining instead of praising.

“Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!” Song of Solomon 2:15 NLT

What a strange little verse.

It was written by King Solomon to his lover. How many times do we let the “little things” in life ruin a loving relationship? Ruin a loving attitude?

Little frustrations – getting stuck in traffic, an overdue bill, being on hold and then getting someone on the line you can’t understand. A stubbed toe, lost keys, a mess in the kitchen or burning the roof of your mouth.

We seem to recognize the bigger issues more quickly and bring them to the Lord in prayer. We know He is always there to help in our time of need. But…the little issues, those little foxes can ruin our life’s vineyard of love, our heart’s gratitude, almost before we recognize it.

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Hebrews 4:16 NLT

Help when we need it most! Help when the traffic is at a standstill, help when the milk gets spilled on the kitchen table, help when the fuel tank is on E and we’re late for a meeting. Help!

“But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.” Psalm 18:6 NLT

Knowing that the Lord hears our cry and answers our pleas is so encouraging. I often hear people, who really claim no relationship with the Lord, utter “Thank God” when a situation changes for the better.

Yes, thank God!

He is our strength, our deliverer, our “little fox” eradicator!

“We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. ²¹In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.” Psalm 33:20-21 NLT

Don’t let the little foxes spoil the love that is growing in your garden. Chase them away with an attitude of praise!

February 27, 2021February 27, 2021

Spoiler Alert

In yesterday’s blog we looked at the practical teaching of joy. This morning I was reminded of a time when an every day situation had me so frustrated that I wanted to scream. The Lord taught me a valuable lesson through it.

“Catch the foxes for us— the little foxes that spoil the vineyard. Our vineyard is now in bloom.” Song of Solomon 2:15 CEV

King Solomon said that we are to catch little foxes because they spoil our fruit. In this case, the fruit is joy. I kept running into little foxes on this particular day.

I had just gotten a new computer. My old computer had been around for the last 4-5 years. I knew it inside and out, literally. But it was old and running so slow. I asked our son-in-law to recommend a newer and better computer that would meet my needs and have a relatively easy learning curve for both Dave and I.

I made a list of everything I needed to move from one computer to the other and methodically went about my task. I felt pretty accomplished for a non-computer tech type person. Checking off each item as I completed them. Yes, this was going smoothly until one of those little foxes showed up!

It came in the form of a command “restart to activate new software” and there was a glitch. A phone call in the midst of my concentration proved to be another little fox, a fox of distraction. Launch again, a missing element, another little fox! Frustration mounted…

I’ve learned to recognize the “big” things in my life that seek to get me off course in my relationship with the Lord but more often than not, I get tripped up by these little foxes.

It was certainly time to pray.

I had done that when I started, asking for wisdom and thanking the Father for guiding me through this process but somewhere along the way, I had allowed the frustration to override my peace.

Then I heard these words in my mind, “in my presence is fullness of joy”.

“I don’t feel very joyful right now Father.” “Then you’re not in My presence”. It was a short conversation between the Father and I and He was right.

I was wrapped up in my own little world and I’d forgotten to lean on Him. If God, the Father, is concerned with a small thing like setting up a new computer, let me assure you that the weightier matters of life are certainly within His provision as well.

“LORD, you give me all that I need. You support me. You give me my share. 6 My share is wonderful. My inheritance is very beautiful…8 I always remember that the LORD is with me. He is here, close by my side, so nothing can defeat me. 9 So my heart and soul will be very happy. Even my body will live in safety..11 You will teach me the right way to live. Just being with you will bring complete happiness*. Being at your right side will make me happy forever.” Psalm 16:5-11 ERV *(fullness of joy, KJV)

What little foxes are spoiling your vineyard? Capture them and sit in the Father’s presence. There you will find FULLNESS OF JOY!“

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019

Spoiler Alert – Watch Out!

“Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards.” Song of Solomon 2:15

Or to paraphrase: don’t let the little things in life spoil your garden.

In my case it was the gophers that spoiled the vine. Years ago I made a serious attempt to plant a garden. It was a difficult task because we lived in an area where the soil was good but the water wasn’t. We had to keep the water slowly running in the garden because if it stopped the surface would become dry and a salty crush would form.

I took good care of my garden. We protected it from the varmints with a rabbit fence and it discouraged the coyotes as well. I watched as the watermelons developed and could hardly wait to cut one of those delicious dark green beauties open.

The kids kept asking if they could pick them but I said they weren’t quite ready – I was checking everyday and then the day of harvest came. We went to the garden, with mouth watering, we bent down to pluck the melon from it’s vine. To our shock and great disappointment, the melon was ruined.

It looked beautiful – a rich, dark green – big and round. It was going to be the best melon ever and it would have been if the gophers hadn’t have come up from underneath and eaten a hole in the rind and devoured the middle!

A life lesson here – as christians we are to bear fruit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith. But if we aren’t careful the little foxes and the gophers (varmints), will come and destroy the fruit. We know them better as worry, fear, self-reliance, peer pressure, overwork, laziness, stress, etc. These varmints will try to destroy the fruit that God wants us to produce.

“I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me. ⁶“If anyone does not get his life from Me, he is cut off like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and they are burned. ⁷If you get your life from Me and My Words live in you, ask whatever you want. It will be done for you. ⁸“When you give much fruit, My Father is honored. This shows you are My followers. ⁹I have loved you just as My Father has loved Me. Stay in My love. ¹⁰If you obey My teaching, you will live in My love. In this way, I have obeyed My Father’s teaching and live in His love. ¹¹I have told you these things so My joy may be in you and your joy may be full. ¹²“This is what I tell you to do: Love each other just as I have loved you. ” John 15:5-12 NLV

If we stay connected to the vine, Jesus, we will produce the fruit that He has commanded of us. That fruit is love for each other as Christ has loved us.

Don’t let the little foxes spoil the vine…and watch out for the gophers too!

March 10, 2018

Replant When Necessary

I’ve had times when it has been necessary to replant some of the seeds and flowers in my garden. Either the seeds were planted too deeply or they got too much water but no matter the reason they didn’t come up and I had to replant.

I have to replant some seeds today. It seems the “joy” seeds that I planted yesterday were destroyed by day’s end.

“What the man plants is the Word of God. ¹⁵Those by the side of the road are the ones who hear the Word. As soon as they hear it, the devil comes and takes away the Word that is planted in their hearts. ¹⁶The seed that fell among rocks is like people who receive the Word with joy when they hear it. ¹⁷Their roots are not deep so they live only a short time. When sorrow and trouble come because of the Word, they give up and fall away. ¹⁸The seed that was planted among thorns is like some people who listen to the Word. ¹⁹But the cares of this life let thorns come up.” Mark 4:14-19 NLV

I allowed too many cares, distractions and anxious moments to uproot the joy I had just planted. I know none of you have experienced anything like this so bear with me as I make a fresh start. Dealing with bureaucracy and incompetence can do that to you if you don’t stay focus on the Scripture.

“But let all who put their trust in You be glad. Let them sing with joy forever. You make a covering for them, that all who love Your name may be glad in You. ¹²For You will make those happy who do what is right, O Lord. You will cover them all around with Your favor.” Psalm 5:11-12 NLV

It’s important that we check our heart continually throughout the day. Do we have peace? Are we doing things with a joyful attitude? Do I have a humble spirit and am I giving love to those around me? Once we recognize that something’s missing we need to stop immediately. Pray, protect our crop of godly character and then replant when necessary.

“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Solomon 2:15 KJV

Join me in replanting some joy.

“Those who plant with tears will gather fruit with songs of joy. ⁶He who goes out crying as he carries his bag of seed will return with songs of joy as he brings much grain with him.” Psalm 126:5-6 NLV

“So My Word which goes from My mouth will not return to Me empty. It will do what I want it to do, and will carry out My plan well. ¹²You will go out with joy, and be led out in peace. The mountains and the hills will break out into sounds of joy before you. And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. ” Isaiah 55:11-12 NLV

“And Isaiah says, “There will be One from the family of Jesse Who will be a leader over the people who are not Jews. Their hope will be in Him.” ¹³Our hope comes from God. May He fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in Him. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:12-13 NLV

Today is a new day. God has new and wonderful adventures planned for us. We keep our eyes on Him and He WILL direct our steps. There is so much comfort in that.

If and when we fail, we can always replant!

September 4, 2017September 4, 2017

Growing A Successful Garden

“Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards.” Song of Solomon 2:15

But I took good care of my garden and protected it from the varmits with a rabbit fence and it discouraged the coyotes as well. I watched as the watermelons developed and could hardly wait to cut one of those delicious dark green beauties open.

The kids kept asking if they could pick them but I said they weren’t quite ready – I was checking everyday and then the day of harvest came. We went to the garden, with mouth watering we bent down to pluck the melon from it’s vine. And to our shock and great disappointment the melon was ruined.

A life lesson here – as christians we are to bear fruit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith. But if weren’t not careful, the little foxes and the gophers (varmits), will come in and destroy the fruit. We know them better as worry, fear, self-reliance, peer pressure, overwork, laziness, etc. These varmits will try to destroy the fruit that God wants us to produce.

“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything. 6 If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be like a branch that has been thrown out and has dried up. All the dead branches like that are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. 8 Show that you are my followers by producing much fruit. This will bring honor to my Father…
“I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love. 10 I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and he continues to love me. In the same way, if you obey my commands, I will continue to love you. 11 I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. 12 This is what I command you: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love people can show is to die for their friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I tell you to do. 15 I no longer call you servants, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. But now I call you friends, because I have told you everything that my Father told me.
16 “You did not choose me. I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:5-17

If we stay connected to the vine, Jesus, we will produce the fruit that He has commanded of us and that is to love each other as Christ has loved us.

Don’t let the little foxes spoil your vine and eat your harvest!