In the outskirts of the woodlands in Brazil at the turn of the last century, a poor woodcutter lived with his baby and his pet fox. His ungrateful wife had abandoned him, tired of that difficult life. She became infatuated with a local merchant and decided to run off with him. The poor woodcutter needed to work, and had no other choice but to leave his little son with the fox.

Every night, when the woodcutter arrived home, he would find the grinning fox waiting for him and the baby sleeping in the cradle. His neighbours, who were also very poor, warned the woodcutter about the dangers of leaving his baby with a fox: “The fox is an animal. When it feels hungry and can’t find food, it will eat your baby. It’s instinct.”

The woodcutter insisted that that fox was faithful and that the baby was not in danger. He had found her in the woods many years before and looked after her as if she were a member of the family.

His neighbours kept on warning the woodcutter about the risk he was running with his baby—although they had never offered to look after the child. They pestered him so much that he ended up getting worried. However much he insisted that he trusted the animal, the man would leave for work with a tight feeling in his heart and come back very apprehensive, fearing that something had really happened to his son.

One evening, the woodcutter arrived home and found the grinning fox with her mouth smudged with blood. The man became so enraged that he didn’t think twice: he grabbed his axe, and with a fatal blow, killed the fox and ran towards the cradle. He was dumbfounded when he saw his baby boy sleeping peacefully, and beside the cradle, the remains of a deadly snake.

That’s how life is. When we manifest a firm faith, we have assurance. But when we allow doubts to neutralise our faith, we end up acting hastily without thinking, which can cause us to suffer for the rest of our lives.

It’s important that we do not grow weak in our faith, lest what happened to the poor woodcutter happens to us.