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Claire Black: Welcome to True Girl, podcast for girls and their moms. I’m Claire Black. 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.
True Girl, we’re heading back to the Gresh farm for one more “Lesson from the Barnyard!”
Before we do that, let me ask you something, do you ever feel like God is hard to see or understand? Maybe it seems like everyone else sees and understands Him, but you don’t.
I know what it feels like to wonder where God is. When I was young, probably about your age, I struggled a LOT with lying. I never really understood why that was the first thing I would resort to. I remember praying a lot about how much I wanted to change, how I wanted to be honest because I could see how it was hurting my relationships. But it didn't seem like God was doing anything or like anything was changing. Sometimes, it almost felt like He didn't hear my prayer.
Well, today’s podcast is for anyone who’s experienced something like that. Which, if we’re honest, is probably all of us.
As you know by now, Dannah likes to call the animals on her farm her “creature teachers,” because they’re always teaching her something about God. And Romans 1:20 tells us she’s onto something! It says that ever since God created the world, people have been able to see His qualities through the things He has made.
But today’s creature teacher is being a little difficult to find. Dannah and Suzy are out in the woods on the farm. They’re looking up into the trees, because they just heard something.
[woodpecker call]
Did you hear that? They did, too. Here’s Dannah.
Dannah Gresh: Suzy, there it is!
Suzy: Where?!
Dannah: There!
Suzy: I don’t see it.
Dannah: He’s right there tapping his little red head off. Look!
Suzy:Dannah, I hear it but I don’t see it.
Dannah: Ah, there he goes.
Suzy: I missed him . . . AGAIN! I haven’t seen one for years!
Dannah: Okay, that’s it. I am going to get you another pileated woodpecker sighting this year!
Suzy: Is that a promise?
Dannah: It is now. Let’s go this way.
Suzy: How often do you see one?
Dannah: Oh, maybe once a year.
Suzy: ONLY once a year?
Dannah: But I hear them all the time—probably once a week. That deep hammering sound carries through the woods.
And here’s the crazy thing, Suzy. A pileated woodpecker is HUGE. They can be almost twenty inches long—about the size of a crow—with this bright red crest on their head.
Suzy: I’m looking for something the size of a crow but cannot see it?
Dannah: Exactly!
Suzy: This is a little embarrassing.
Dannah: They’re just really good at disappearing into these woods. But once you know that sound, you know when one is nearby.
You can look for the evidence they leave behind, too. They dig these big rectangular holes in dead trees looking for carpenter ants and other bugs. Sometimes they knock out chunks of wood as big as your fist!
Suzy: That’s powerful!
Dannah: Oh yeah, is it! In fact, can we take one little God’s-design detour?
Suzy: Always.
Dannah: Think about what that bird does. It hammers with its head all day long looking for ants and other bugs in dead trees.
Suzy: My head hurts just thinking about that!
Dannah:vWoodpeckers are like little flying jackhammers. They can hit a tree fifteen times EVERY SECOND!
But God designed them specially to handle all that pounding! Their brains are tiny and fit tightly inside strong skulls—that’s important. Their brains cannot bounce around, because they’re tightly packed like a fragile gift your grandma ships you with ten zillion of those white peanut thingies in the box.
Suzy: And it seems like grandma always puts on three whole rolls of packing tape to make sure it stays in. It always takes forever to open it!
Dannah: Oh, God did that, too!
A woodpecker’s super-long tongue starts in its mouth, then wraps around its little bird brain almost like a helmut to provide extra-cushiony protection!
Suzy: God is an amazing Creator!
Dannah: He sure is.
[woodpecker in distance]
Suzy: Apparently Mr. Woodpecker would like to demonstrate!
Dannah: This way, let's go!
Suzy: Oh, is it even worth it? We’ve been out here a long time.
And hearing that woodpecker—but not being able to see him—reminds me of the times when it felt like everybody around me could see God working . . . except me.
Can I confess something? Sometimes when I was in youth group I would agree that I saw God moving like others did. I’d say, “Yeah, He talks to me like that, too.” I was too embarrassed to admit that sometimes, even though I truly believed in God, I really did, but I struggled to see how He was working. It probably shouldn’t have led me to be dishonest.
Dannah: Suzy, I’m really glad you said that. Because I think we all feel exactly that way at some point in our lives, if not lots of times.
Maybe your friend talks about how close she feels to God. Maybe you hear somebody tell an amazing story about an answered prayer. And you’re thinking, Well, I don’t see God doing anything like that in my life.
Thankfully, the Bible has something really simple to say about that. Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.”
Suzy: Believing . . . not seeing.
Dannah: Yep. Faith isn’t pretending something is there when it isn’t. Faith is trusting what we know is true about God even when we can’t see what He’s doing.
Kind of like that woodpecker.
[woodpecker in the distance]
Suzy: I still don’t see him.
Dannah: But you believe he’s there.
Suzy: Well of course I do.
Dannah: Why?
Suzy: I can hear him.
Dannah: Exactly. And how do we hear God?
Suzy: His Word. I mean, that’s what helped my faith growth. Just like that rat-a-tat-tat makes me know that woodpeckers there, the words in my Bible were like that.
Sometimes I wished I could hear God’s voice out loud. But then I realized, God has already spoken to me. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” And they are “God-breathed.” That means the words in your Bible are God’s words to us. So when I couldn’t see what God was doing, I would go back to what He has already said.
God has given us something even more dependable than the sound of a woodpecker. He’s given us His Word.
Dannah: Ok, so what else makes you believe in that woodpecker.
Suzy: You! You have testified that he’s real and not some sound effect out in the woods.
Dannah: True.
Suzy: And testimony matters. Think about Jesus. After He died on the cross and rose from the dead, people actually saw Him alive—a lot of people!
I love something the apostle Paul wrote. Let me see if I can pull it up on my phone Bible app.
Suzy: Here we go. First Corinthians 15 starting in verse 3:
Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. [That’s talking about the twelve disciples.]
After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all . . . I also saw him.” (vv. 1–8 emphasis added)
Paul is saying, if you haven’t seen Him, keep looking because we have seen Him!
Dannah: How cool is that?
So the words of our Bibles and the testimonies of others encourage us when we are having times when we cannot see Jesus.
[woodpecker in the distance]
Dannah: Wait! Suzy . . . THERE! On that big dead tree. Look up—left side!
Suzy: Where? Where?!
Dannah: Right there! Red head. Do you see him?
Suzy: I SEE HIM! I SEE HIM!
[flutter of wings]
Suzy: Oh . . . he’s gone!
Dannah: But that counts.
Suzy: I saw him for TWO SECONDS!
Dannah: Welcome to pileated woodpecker watching world.
Suzy: I feel like I need a certificate.
Dannah: I’ll make you one.
Suzy: But Dannah?
Dannah: Yeah.
Suzy: That was a THRILLING two seconds.
Dannah: I know, Suze. I know.
Claire: True Girl, maybe you know exactly how Suzy felt. Other people seem to see God working, but you’re wondering, Jesus, where are You? I don’t see You.
Keep looking.
Open your Bible and read His words. Ask someone who loves Jesus, “How have you seen God at work in your life?” Listen to their testimony. It helps!
And every once in a while, God may give you one of those moments when His presence—though invisible—is especially real to you. Maybe you see Him answer a prayer. Maybe a verse in your Bible is exactly what your heart needs that day. Maybe you suddenly recognize how He has been caring for you all along.
Those moments can be thrilling. They make you want to keep looking for Him.
Remember how I told you how I struggled with lying and it was really hard to see how God was answering my prayer? Well, one day I had the opportunity to lie, and God helped me to tell the truth . . . and to want to tell the truth. I realized, He was answering my prayer. When you pray, He'll answer your prayer too.
Thanks for joining us for this season of the True Girl podcast.
The True Girl Tour bus is being loaded up right now as the team heads out for the True Girl Crazy Hair Tour. Dannah Gresh will be appearing at all of our October events along with dove-award-winning worship leader Yancy.
Find out which cities they’re in at MyTrueGirl.com. We have stops in Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Ohio! In every city, Dannah’s doing a workshop just for moms, called “Raising Pure Kids.” She’ll give great biblical encouragement on some of today’s most challenging topics.
So to recap: moms can have lunch with Dannah in each city, and the evenings are for moms and daughters to grow closer to each other and to Jesus at the True Girl Crazy Hair Tour.
If you can’t come to us, don’t worry. We’ll keep coming to you with this free podcast—or you can have True Girl discipleship tools delivered right to your door with the True Girl subscription box! Every sixty days we ship a box of mom-daughter discipleship tools with daily devos, memory cards, and lots of fun items to keep you in God’s Word. Go to MyTrueGirl.com to learn more.
Until next time, True Girl—keep looking for Jesus. He’s all around you.
The True Girl podcast is a production of Revive Our Hearts, calling women of all ages to freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Christ!
