Planted

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!

Have you and your mom joined Dannah and Staci in their Holy Girl Walk challenge? It’s fine if you don’t walk while you memorize, but I really hope you’ve at least learned Psalm 92, verses 12–15! I know they’ll be helpful later on if you have.

In this season we’ve talked about what it means to flourish. But what are some practical steps we can take to do that? And is it up to us? 

You remember that Dannah Gresh and Staci Rudolph have been traveling around to different forests. Well, today they're back in the studio to talk about those questions.

Let’s listen to the last episode of this series! It’s called “Planted.”

Staci Rudolph: Oh, it is soooo good to be back in the True Girl recording studio. Traveling is awesome, but it’s always good to be back in a familiar place.

[Banging on mic] This thing on?!

Dannah Gresh: Staci, it’s on!

Staci: Hey, Dannah. Look, your jade plant still looks great!

Dannah: See? I told you it flourishes even when I ignore it. We haven’t even been in here for weeks!

Staci: Maybe I should get one of those. I could use some green that doesn’t need too much babying.

Dannah: And then it would remind you that you can flourish even in the hard times.

Staci: And when I see it, I’ll start reciting Psalm 92! Did you finish memorizing it, Dannah?

Dannah: Yeah. I keep saying it when I go on my walks. I want to hear you say it, Staci.

Staci: Okay.

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.

Dannah: Ah, Staci, remember how you said it was hard for you to memorize Scripture? Well, you did it anyway! Good job.

Staci: Yeah. Thanks.

Dannah: There are a couple more things in those verses that I’d like to park on before we head home and call this season of the True Girl podcast a wrap. 

Staci: Okay.

Dannah: We talked about what it means to flourish.

Staci: Right. Like palm trees and cedar trees.

Dannah: But we didn’t mention something sort of obvious.

Staci: What’s that?

Dannah: Well, what did the palm trees and cedar trees have in common?

Staci: Uh . . . they’re alive?

Dannah: Well, yeah, but they’re only alive because they’re . . .

Staci: Ooh, ooh, I know! They’re in the ground!

Dannah: Exactly. If I went and pulled up a three-year-old cedar tree, we all know what would happen.

Staci: It would die.

Dannah: Uh-huh. Again, I know it’s obvious, but in order to flourish, trees have to be alive. And in order to be alive—at least for very long—they have to be planted! So, if we’re going to flourish like those trees, we have to be planted, too.

Staci: That makes sense, but what are we planted in? Not the ground!

Dannah: Of course not. Let me read Psalm 92, verse 13 again. “They [that is, the righteous] are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.”

Staci: Ah!

Dannah: Now, that phrase “the house of the Lord” might be a little confusing to you, True Girl. Do you know what it refers to, Staci?

Staci: I think in the Bible it usually means the temple.

Dannah: In the Old Testament, you’re right, the temple is called “the house of the Lord” quite often. The temple was where people would go to worship God, offer sacrifices to Him, and pray. But since Jesus died on the cross, we don’t have to go to the temple anymore to do that. We can talk to Him and worship Him wherever we are. 

So, in a sense, the phrase “the house of the Lord” can mean just being in God’s presence, spending time with Him. I think that’s the way the psalmist used it here.

Staci: So basically, you’re saying that in order to flourish, we have to spend time with God. Why didn’t you say that in the first place?

Dannah: Because I wanted our True Girls to understand how this verse means that. They need to know that it’s a truth from the Bible, not just something Dannah Gresh said.

Staci: I see. Hey, that reminds me of a verse that has a similar idea! I think it’s in Psalm 16. Can I read it?

Dannah: Of course!

Staci: Let’s see. Oh, yeah, it’s verse 11. David’s talking to God, and he says:

You make known to me the path of life;
   in your presence there is fullness of joy;
   at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

I’d say “fullness of joy” is a kind of flourishing, and this verse says that happens in God’s presence.

Dannah: Love that. I agree, and I do love that verse, Staci.

But how do we spend time with God?

Staci: Well, first of all, you have to be in your Bible, ’cause that’s how you learn about God, at all.

Dannah: Yeah, that’s important. What else?

Staci: It’s more than just reading your Bible. You want to soak in it—meditate on it—and ask God to help you understand it. 

Dannah: And He will help you, little by little. You’re right.

Staci: You can also spend time with God by just talking to Him and telling Him what you’re thinking. Even though He already knows, He wants to hear it from you.

Dannah: Yeah.

True Girl, remember how those palm trees get blown around, but they aren’t usually uprooted? That’s because they have such a big root system, and that’s also a really strong root system. Those roots reach way down to get to water.

Well, when you belong to Christ and spend time with Him, He’s like water to your spiritual roots!

Staci: Oh Dannah, I know a verse about that!

Dannah: You’re full of verses today! That’s great. Go ahead, let’s hear it.

Staci: There are actually several, but the one I’m thinking of is Jeremiah 17:13. It’s talking about people who don’t believe in God. It says, 

O LORD . . .
   all who forsake you shall be put to shame . . .
   for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.

I love that picture of God as a fountain of living water—not a drip, not a trickle, but a fountain!

Dannah: Me too. And without that water, you will not flourish. You will die.

Staci: But with that water, you don’t have to be afraid when bad things happen, because you are planted—rooted—in Christ. 

Dannah: Yeah, you won’t be uprooted from Him, and you can bend in the storms, like we talked about in Episode 2.

Staci: That reminds me of a question I had about flourishing. I don’t think Psalm 92 answers it.

Dannah: Okay, what’s that?

Staci: What about when something really, really horrible happens? So terrible that you can’t forget it or stop thinking about it for months or years? Maybe it even keeps you from doing certain things.

Dannah: Yeah, Staci there’s actually a word for that. It’s called trauma. You’ve probably heard it before.

Staci: Yes. So, can you still flourish even through trauma?

Dannah: The short answer is yes. But let me explain.

“Trauma” is a tricky word, because sometimes people use it when they don’t really understand what it means. For instance, you might hear someone say she was “traumatized” because her parents wouldn’t let her . . . watch a certain movie with her friends, maybe. That’s not trauma. That’s just part of obeying your parents and letting them help you make good choices.

But, trauma is real. It can happen in your body or mind after a scary or hurtful experience, and like you said, Staci, it might make it so that you can’t stop thinking about what happened. Or it could make you not want to go somewhere or do something where it could happen again. Let’s think of some examples.

Like, it could be an accident—an accident you were a part of or that you just saw happen. Like a bad car accident or something else where someone could have died. And maybe if that happened to you, you’re scared to ride in the car again.

Staci: Totally. I’ll say too sometimes, in my case I had a traumatic experience where I had a friend who passed away and there was really no reason that could be found medically. So, that really scared me because I was like “Oh, it could happen at any time for no reason.” And so I started getting really scared just living life. My mind would kind of pop back to that, that at any moment . . .I don’t know, maybe God would call me to heaven and the same thing would happen to me. 

Dannah: Yeah. It’s scary. Some people experience trauma because their parents weren’t good to them—not just that they didn’t let them do what they wanted, but maybe they actually hurt them in some way or didn’t do what they should have done to keep them safe. That can sometimes make it hard for them to trust people who love them.

Staci: Oh, that’s so sad when that happens!

You know, people who live somewhere where there is a war going on often deal with trauma too. They can see or hear really sad things.

Dannah: There are other things that can cause trauma. But yes, even in those times, you can still flourish in Christ. Things might look really bad on the outside, and people can be really hurt on the inside or outside. But guess what? God is more powerful than those bad things!

Staci: I thought you would say that.

Dannah: He can use those painful experiences to make you stronger, to help you trust Him more. He can even heal the hurt of those things.

Staci: But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, right?

Dannah: No, not at all. In fact, Jesus even said that we would have “trials and tribulations” in life. But He’s bigger than your suffering.

Staci: Absolutely. So, we talked before about how we can bend in the storms, like the palm tree does. So that’s still true when it comes to trauma?

Dannah: Yup. 

Staci: Whether it’s a little rain or a big storm like we just talked about, we can still bend and get stronger.

Dannah: That’s right. We can. In fact, the promise of Psalm 92 is that we can grow like a Cedar of Lebanon and sometimes those really painful experiences are where we end up growing the most. But we have to stay planted in the presence of God, and when we do that, He will give us the strength we need.

Staci: Thanks for explaining that. I understand it better now.

Dannah: You’re welcome. But one more thing. I just have to remind you that flourishing in the hard times doesn’t automatically happen. Remember, it’s the righteous who flourish like a palm tree.

Staci: Yeah, and those who are planted in God.

Dannah: Right. So, what does “righteous” mean, again?

Staci: It means to live rightly before God, to be holy in His sight. And since you can’t ever be perfect by yourself, the only way for you to be righteous is for Jesus to cover you with His perfection, His righteousness.

Dannah: Yes! You can’t try hard enough, True Girl. Only God can do that work of making you righteous in your heart. But once you’ve trusted Him for that, He will make you want to live rightly.

Staci: And then you’ll flourish and grow—in the easy times and the hard times—if you keep your eyes on God and stay planted in Him and in His Word, the Bible!

Dannah: Yes!

Staci: I think we should pray for our True Girls, that God would give them a desire to live righteously and to be planted in Him. Can you do that, Dannah?

Dannah: I’d love to.

Lord Jesus, I thank You for each and every one of my True Girls listening to my voice right now. I hope that they know how much You love them. And I hope that whatever hard things they go through, they would understand that You love them very much in that place and through that hard thing, and that You want them to be like palm trees and Cedars of Lebanon—being flexible without breaking, bending without breaking, and growing strong and tall, even in these hard times. 

Lord, I pray that she would ask You for help in living righteously. We all need help in doing the right thing. It doesn’t come without Your help. So, I pray that she would know that there’s nothing that she could ever do that would make You love her less. 

I pray Father that today would be a new beginning of the way she faces any kind of trauma that might be in her life. In the mighty name of Jesus I ask this, amen.

Staci: Amen! Thanks, Dannah.

And now, I need to go buy a jade plant! Do you have a nursery around here?

Dannah: Oh, I have something even better. Just a sec.

Staci: Dannah! Wait! What are you doing? Whacking up your Jade plant like that!

Dannah: Here, have this leaf from my jade plant!

Staci: For me?

Dannah: Yes, just plop it in some water, and in a few days you’ll see some roots. Then . . .

Staci: Plant it in the soil! Dannah, these jade plants really are made to flourish!

Dannah: And so are we, Staci! So are we!

Claire: Have you experienced the kind of trauma that Dannah and Staci were talking about? I’m sorry if you have. I hope you’re talking to your parents or someone you love about it. But also, be sure to stay planted in God’s presence! Spend time with Him. Through Christ, you can grow and become stronger even in those really hard times.

If you want help getting started in spending time with God, ask your mom to check out our True Girl subscription box. We’ll send it right to your door. It’s full of activities, devotionals, and more—things for you to do with your mom and things for you to do by yourself. And we hope that it will help you grow closer to God! Find out more about it at MyTrueGirl.com. 

And while you’re there, your mom can listen to the True Girl Momcast! That’s a podcast where Dannah Gresh and some of the other True Girl teachers talk to moms about the things we girls might be facing. Again, learn more at MyTrueGirl.com.

Well, that’s it for this season of True Girl! I can’t wait to come back for the next season. But in the meantime, keep reviewing Psalm 92!

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

All Scripture is taken from the ESV.

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