The One About a Palm Tree

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…” -Psalm 92:12

It was under circumstances of uncertainty that the image was placed in my imagination: a palm tree. At first I imagined her swaying gracefully in the wind, then more violently as gusts tossed her branches in a game of catch. First northwest, then southeast, the air played it’s dangerous game and I imagine how she must feel, trying to keep up. 

Sitting here in a rare moment of solitude, memories of past hurricanes sweep across my mind’s eye. Images of our old neighborhood torn up by this dangerous game the winds play. Roof shingles, mailboxes and tree branches—so many branches— thrown disheveled across yards and cul-de-sacs. Black olive and cedar trees, those seemingly immovable giants, lay fallen and destroyed, blocking roads and causing hazards. 

But the palm trees remain poised, symbols of strength and stability; reminders that everything will be okay, normalcy will be found. They tilt and bend, twist and stretch but return to their natural position when calm arrives. Bent but not broken. A visual poem of resilience in the landscape of my hometown, whispering messages of hope.

Loss of loved ones, on top of job changes, on top of uncertainty compounded by life-threatening crisis — as I sit here in the quiet, I remember the hurricane that blew across our lives a few years ago. 

There were days of swaying gracefully and days of shifting violently as the world around us spun. Days of grace and days of soul-deep chaos. Psalm 92:12 was one of the anchors that kept me grounded during those days, “The righteous will flourish like the palm tree, they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.” 

Palm trees are good at flourishing. They thrive in mild, sunny, beachy-vacation weather, but they also continue thriving in dark, swirling storms. They flourish in places where other species do not because they were made to flex in a way other species were not. Their affinity for resilience is at the core of who they are. 

At the cellular level, they stretch like rubber bands when stressors pull and press against them, yet those same cells are able to return to their original shape when the stressor releases its grip. 

Sister, let the picture of a palm tree fill your imagination and invert your perspective. 

The storm in your life will not be the end of you. You will not be obliterated into a thousand pieces of debris across the landscape of your loved ones’ lives. You will remain poised, standing, a symbol of God’s strength and stability because— here it is— the same God who created palm trees to withstand the fiercest of storms has also created you. He’s designed you with an affinity for resilience at the core of who you are. He has woven the cells of your body and the building blocks of your heart to be flexible, bending with the winds— first one way, then another—only to return to their natural shapes once the stressors are gone. 

His designs are ingenious and who are we to argue with the way He builds them? Who are we to resist the way He acts and say, “No, thank you,” to the winds He blows in our direction? If the great Designer wants to display beauty through His creation, if flourishing in the face of violent circumstances becomes a poem of resilience in His hands, then let it be so. 

Lord, use us as you will for the sake of your glory, for the sake of our good, and for the sake of others who will be impacted by it. Sister and fellow traveler on this faith journey: you were made to withstand the storm you’re facing.

You were designed for this moment, for this crisis, for these winds. At the core of who you are, you have been gifted with the ability to flex but remain fixed, to stretch but stay standing, to bend without breaking. Dig your roots deep into the foundation of Jesus Christ, draw stabilizing nutrients out of His word, and receive the power that comes through His Spirit living inside of you. We were made for this— made to be rooted in Him, made to stand tall, made to flourish. 

Challenge

This week, look up all the cross references for Psalm 92:12. What is a common thread you see in all the scripture passages? What do these verses tell you about the importance of growth in God’s economy? What do these verses tell you about your identity as God’s child?

how to look up cross-references:

1.) Some Bibles have cross-references printed in the text. They are usually small capital letters printed before or after certain words in the verse. Find the corresponding letter in the footnote section of the page and it will indicate a verse reference for you to look up.

2.) BibleGateway.com has a cross-reference feature. Check out the video below to learn how to use it!