I was waaaaay back in the archives and stumbled over this treasure written by our beloved Rosheeda Lee. For those of you who don't know Rosheeda, she was a popular and frequent guest writer here at SUM. She always led our community through our January fast with power and amazing intimacy. She passed away in a car accident while on her way to meet up with us at a conference. You can read about Rosheeda Lee Legacy. We love and adore her and I can't wait to see her in the Throne Room. We plan to hug and dance and sign together for at least 10,000 years. 

But today, I want to share her thoughts about the foxes and the elephants. This was written during our fasting.

Have a great weekend my friends... I will be back with a TON of fantastic thoughts, classes and insights on August 1st. Love you so much, Lynn

Okay: Rosheeda Lee

Song of Solomon 2:15 "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom."

Song of Songs is such a great love story. The words, the passion, the utter romance, and suspense of it all. Grace, mercy, and unfailing love. All that is in this one little book. It really IS a great love story.

But it isn't THE greatest love story in my life. Not by far. And I hope that it won't be for you either. Because the greatest love story of my life is the love affair I have with Christ.

I know, I know. This seems pretty irrelevant when we talk about fasting, but just hear me out. There are a couple things we all know about being in love. First thing is that it takes time together to allow love to really blossom, especially when you've been together so long that what used to be exciting is now common place. There has to be intimate time between you to reconnect and to re-kindle that flame. (Sounds cliché, I know, but it's true.) That's what fasting is all about. One-on-one time with our First Love. Time to re-connect, re-engage, and re-discover all the reasons you fell in love in the first place.

The second thing we all know about love is that when there is an elephant in the room, you can't be completely connected until... well.. until the elephant leaves. Oh, it doesn't change your love for each other or the desire to be close. It just makes it pretty difficult. Our love story with God is the same. When there is an elephant in the room, we can't connect with Him as fully as either of us would like, because for the Believer, that elephant is always un-confessed or un-repented sin.

Which brings us the Song of Solomon 2:15. Here we are seeing the Lover ask that the small foxes be caught, because they are destructive. Because they will ruin what is blooming so beautifully. I just want to point out a few things, then I'll leave you to get rid of the elephants in your rooms.

First, the Lover doesn't say 'let us catch'.. he asks that the foxes be caught FOR them. Which means he understands that he is powerless to capture these foxes in his own strength. He recognizes the need of someone more powerful to step in and act on his behalf so that their vineyards aren't ruined. It also shows that the Lover has to acknowledge that the foxes are there in the first place. So it is with the sin in our lives. We have to acknowledge that it's there, and we have to recognize that we can't cleanse our own lives or hearts. That job has to be given to One more powerful than we.

And let's not forget that these foxes are called LITTLE. They aren't huge, overwhelming, obvious intruders. They're small. Easily hidden and easily ignored. Which is why the previous paragraph is so critical. We have to CHOOSE to acknowledge them and to have them captured, so that the work God is doing in our vineyard (our hearts, our relationship with Him and with others, our lives in general) isn't for naught.

Pretty convicting stuff, right?

Love is at its best when it is guarded and diligently cultivated. The blossoms are overwhelmed if we don't weed on a regular basis. Don't let your relationship with the Lord be overwhelmed by hidden sins. Take time today to think about your own love story with God. Now that you've decided to make time for the two of you to be alone together, take time to address the elephant(s) in the room. I can't promise it won't be difficult, but I CAN promise you won't regret it. Not at all.

Off to get rid of my own elephants.

Rosheeda