Bug Spray and Band-Aids

Claire Black: Welcome to True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s truth for us, one drive at a time! Buckle up! You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus.

Does it ever feel like you’re growing more slowly than other people around you? Maybe not physically, but spiritually? It’s easy to compare yourselves to other people and think, This person prays better than me. And that person seems to have more faith. And that one understands the Bible. And . . . Well, you get the idea.

If you’ve ever felt that way, you’re not alone. And today’s podcast could be just what you need to have more patience with yourself as you grow in your faith in Jesus.

In season 14, “Flourishing Forests,” we’re studying some verses in Psalm 92 to learn that we can grow through every challenge. Dannah Gresh and Staci Rudolph are visiting another forest today as we learn some important lessons about flourishing in life. 

Before we jump in, let me ask, “Are you joining Dannah in her challenge to memorize and meditate on Psalm 92? You can tackle the whole chapter or just memorize verses 12–15, the four verses we’re learning about this season.

Okay, let’s dive into today’s adventure. Staci has been researching the Cedars of Lebanon and has a lot to share. Here’s episode 3 of season 14. It’s called “Bug Spray and Band-Aids.” Here’s Dannah.

Dannah Gresh: (breathing heavily) Staci! . . . You didn’t tell me . . . that we were . . . hiking so far! 

Staci Rudolph: (breathing heavily) Well, Dannah, you said the Cedars of Lebanon was a . . . a vanished forest!

Dannah: Yeah . . . I did. . . . It is. Can we stop . . . I need to hydrate?

Staci: Come on! . . . You can do it! . . . We’re almost there! I think it’s just over this hill.

Dannah: It’s all been one great big hill! Almost where, Staci? You drag me onto a plane to Beirut, Lebanon. Then, throw me in a Jeep for a two-hour drive . . . also mostly uphill. (Not that I minded. I love Jeeps.) And now, how long have we been walking?

Staci: Stop! Oh, wow!

Dannah: Oh, wow! Staci, did you find . . . Are those . . .

Staci: . . . the ancient Cedars of Lebanon?

Yep! Welcome to the Jaj Cedars Forest. There are some left. About 375 of them—right here at the top of the mountain of Jaj. I guess none of the people cutting them down way back in Bible times wanted to climb up here!

Dannah: Let’s go! 

Staci: Steady, Eddy! Ever heard of pacing yourself. Let’s just keep walking. 

The Jaj Cedars are among the last survivors of the immense forests that lay across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. This cluster of cedars is one of the most ancient natural reserves left of the great forest we read about in the Bible. Some of those trees in thatgrove are 2000 years old!

Dannah: Oh, I believe it. They’re amazing. Oh, Staci! I thought they’d be shaped like big Christmas trees.

Staci: Nope. They lose that cone shape at about their 100th birthday! That’s when they start to grow branches so big . . .

Dannah: . . . they look like tree trunks—not branches!

Staci: Exactly. And they sort of start to resemble, well, they look sorta like giant, green umbrellas.

Dannah: Hmm, to me they look like ginormous bonsai trees the size of a building!

Staci: Yeah, I can see that.

Dannah: Magnificent!

Staci: Hey, sounds like you’re catching your breath! Enough to recite Psalm 92:12–15?

Dannah: Always.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
   and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the Lord;
   they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
   they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the Lord is upright;
   he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Staci: Well, that turned out kinda cool. You finished reciting that just the moment we got to the base of our very first ancient cedar of Lebanon.

Okay, now it’s time to hydrate!

Staci: Let’s study this giant and consider: what did God want us to learn about Cedars of Lebanon so we could learn to grow? The verse says the righteous flourish like a palm tree and we grow like a Cedar of Lebanon.

While you're thinking, here’s what I know so far. Ready?

Dannah: Shoot!

Staci: The Bible mentions Cedars of Lebanon like 100 times! Anytime something in the Bible is repeated, we should probably pay close attention. Now, in many of those places they’re just mentioned because they were used, for example, to build the temple of Jerusalem or something like that. 

But often they are object lessons. Often they are symbols of strength. Lebanon cedars would have been the tallest trees writers of Scripture would have seen. They top out at about 120 feet! That’s as tall as a twelve-story building today. But back in Bible times, they wouldn’t have had those.

It’s no wonder they represented strength and might to them.

Dannah: Yes. Reminds me of the redwood forests in California. I sure love it there. I sense God’s presence in those mighty giants. 

Staci: Yes.

Dannah: Ya know, I think, if I’m not mistaken, that the redwoods live a couple of thousand of years too. But also, I remember them being taller—a lot taller. I think they grow to be like 260 feet tall. That makes me wonder, Did you learn anything about how they grow, Staci?

Staci: Your instincts are correct. Here’s the thing about Cedars of Lebanon: they are relatively slow growers as far as trees go. They might only grow twenty feet tall in the first twenty years.

In fact, everything about it is slow. It takes longer than most trees to produce any fruit. The first shows up at about thirty years of age. But, ready for some good news?

Dannah: Do tell!

Staci: Long after most trees die and decay, these still bear fruit—for hundreds of years!

Dannah: Ah, that reminds me of verse 14 of Psalm 92. 

 They still bear fruit in old age;
   they are ever full of sap and green.

That’s cool! I didn’t see the connection of that verse to the cedar trees before. So, they are fruitful in old age.

But here’s a mystery: what’s up with the sap? Now that we know it has to do specifically with the Cedar of Lebanon?

Staci: I got ya on the sap and the green.

You see, the green is because it’s an evergreen—symbolizing that it’s always full of life. It’s never at rest. And get this: the smell of the wood is so powerful that it repels most insects. That may be one reason why it lives so long. Do you see any bugs around here?

Dannah: Nope!

Staci: It’s like the tree has its own built-in bug spray!

And then we get to the sap. If the insects do try to eat its leaves, the sap will clog their throats. 

The sap also heals wounds on the tree. If you gash the tree’s trunk, the sap will cover the gash, protecting it from fungus. The sap then hardens and protects the tree while it heals.

Dannah: Kinda like a Band-Aid!

Staci: Exactly!

Tree sap also contains nutrients and minerals. It’s like a multivitamin. This sticky liquid runs through the tree and down to the branches to help generate energy while new buds are forming during springtime.

The sap of a Cedar of Lebanon is so powerful that the Bible says it was used for purification rituals to heal lepers and protect people who were exposed to dead bodies.

Dannah: Bug spray and Band-Aids! You know, I’m starting to understand something.

Staci: What?

Dannah: Well, it’s because of the bug spray and Band-Aids that the tree grows for so long. 

First, the bug spray. This repels pests that could devour the life of the tree. So, a righteous person has something similar. It’s called discernment. You kind of know when something isn’t good or right or holy . . . and it repels you. So, you go the other way.

Staci: Oh, like when you have a friend and you just sense, “I don’t know if I should spend a lot of time alone with her.” And then later you hear that she was up to no good. You discerned it before you knew it.

Dannah: Yep.

Staci: Discernment keeps lies and evil far from our lives. That keeps us healthy emotionally and spiritually. 

Dannah: Oh, I like that analogy!

Second, the Band-Aids or the sap. Psalm 104:16 mentions this; it says something like: “The trees of the Lord are full of sap.” Sap is like the life blood of a tree. Without it the tree can’t even exist, let alone flourish. 

Since the sap is used in the Bible to anoint the sick, and we’re supposed to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, could there be a connection? I mean we cannot have spiritual life without the Holy Spirit drawing us to Jesus, that’s where it all begins. It’s essential. And when we do experience some kind of spiritual unwellness, the Holy Spirit does the work of healing in our lives, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 12.

Staci: Yes.

Dannah: And you know, when it comes to being righteous and doing the right thing, I think about the Fruit of the Spirit in the book of Galatians—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, all those things, it’s the fruit of what?

Staci: The Fruit of the Spirit!

Dannah: So, basically the bug spray and the Ban-Aids help them grow!

Staci: And now, let me take a guess at the slow growth. Slow is a word we don’t like when it comes to growing. Dannah, have you ever compared yourself to others? Felt less-than because they seem to have matured so fast in the Christian faith.

Dannah: I think everyone has!

Staci: Maybe the fact that these symbols of strength grow slowly is a reminder to be patient with what God is doing in our hearts and lives?

Dannah: It could be. What’s on your mind?

Staci: Well, just recently I had to make a big move. I left all of my family in Michigan to move to Colorado to a new job, which is amazing. But it was hard at first to just get into the rhythm of everything new. I had to make new friends. I had to learn my new job. I had to settle with a new puppy . . . who moves with a puppy? I am crazy for doing that. 

Dannah: Staci does. 

Staci: But I began to see God just caring for me and developing me in a special way as I was going through that season. And though I am still going through it, growing in ways, I see that it's turning into a pretty sweet thing. 

Dannah: Are you telling me that it happened slowly?

Staci: Super slowly, and honestly, it’s still happening. 

Dannah: Yeah, Staci that sounds just like how God grows us, slowly and carefully. 

Claire: That sweet conversation reminds me of a Bible verse. “You must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” That’s 2 Peter 3:18. It’s important for us to pray for discernment and ask for the Holy Spirit to help us, but ultimately, growing in faith is an act of God’s grace. He does it. We just cooperate.

Something that helps you grow is memorizing God’s Word. We’re almost finished with the Holy Girl Walk—just one more week! To participate, just walk together with your mom and memorize Psalm 92. If you want, just zero in on Psalm 92:12–15. Those are the verses we’re exploring in this season of the True Girl podcast, called “Flourishing Forests.” Learn more about the Holy Girl Walk Bible memory challenge at MyTrueGirl.com.

While you’re there, find out more about the True Girl Pop Up Party at the Museum of the Bible! That’s happening November 1 and 2. You’ll get to spend time with Dannah, Staci, and the whole True Girl team. It’s not too late to join us!

Next week, we’re going to talk about why it’s important that we’re planted! Planted in what? Come back to find out! 

The True Girl podcast is produced by Revive Our Hearts calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness!

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