At the beginning of the year we had the great privilege to take a trip to Florida. We had 2 ministry related events to attend there. In between our two commitments we got to camp as a family. While in the land of palm trees everywhere I happened to read the following:
“The godly grow like a palm tree; they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the LORD’s house, they grow in the courts of our God. They bear fruit even when they are old; they are filled with vitality and have many leaves. So they proclaim that the LORD, my protector, is just and never unfair.” Psalms 92:12-15 NET
Fast forward a couple of months and I was reading these verses again. I had a memory of someone in Florida saying that the palm trees don’t fall during hurricanes, so I googled it and came across this article which says:
“ Trees generally snap, or at least lose a few branches, when faced with hurricane-strength winds. Not palm trees. These staples of the tropics typically bend during gusty weather.”
It goes on to say:
“How does the mighty palm usually stay standing, swaying — sometimes violently — in storms?For starters, unlike traditional trees, palm trees are not made of wood. “Instead, you’ll find a jumble of spongy tissue, scattered instead of arranged” inside a palm, geochemist Hope Jahren wrote in her autobiography “Lab Girl” (Vintage, 2016).
Most trees lay down rings as they grow every year. But not the palm tree; some of its cells are malleable, and others can easily flex and then return to their original po”[Its] lack of conventional structure is what gives the palm its flexibility and makes it supremely adapted … to the gentle island breezes that periodically coalesce into ruthless hurricanes,” Jahren wrote in her book.”
So…in layman’s terms, palm trees can survive hurricane winds because they’re different than other trees.
As believers following God’s way we end up going against the grain of the world and feel different. Just looking at palm trees we notice they stand out. In fact that’s something I noticed in Florida, so much of the foresty area looked like it could be one of the many other places I’ve visited in the US, except for the skinny palm trees towering over the other trees.
They may look different, but when the storms come, the hurricane winds gush around, the palm trees sway, but rarely uproot and fall. They may look different than the rest with their tall trunk and lollipop resemblance, but they can withstand more than the trees.
While you can’t see it in the picture, one of these palm trees has a chimpanze sitting in it.
I had to snap a picture when I saw this one popping through the roof at a Florida park.
I absolutly love seeing this palm tree everyday when in West Africa!
As I was looking for pictures of palms on my phone, I realized, not only do they survive rainy weather, but they make it through the dry dusty months we have as well.
I realize that I added a lot to this analogy, that I don’t know if the original author intended or not, but either way I want to grow like a palm tree, bear fruit even when I’m old and proclaim my Lord. (Ps. 92:12-15)
-Katy