A Lump of Figs

I walked into the doctor’s office armed with my latest PSA results. After giving the result slip to the receptionist, I knew they were now in my personal file that the doctor was holding. “How are you today, Reverend?” Professor Peter Mungai Ngugi asked.

“I’m feeling great,” I responded as I took my place in the chair across his expansive desk. As he opened the file, I was keenly observing his facial expression.

“One point eight!” he exclaimed. “Reverend, what did you do?”

I explained that in the last three months, I had started off with a 7-day vegetable juice detox, then started drinking Prunus Africana tea.

“Yes, Prunus works,” he admitted. “I will take you off the other medication.” I wondered why he hadn’t said that years before, but it was not the right time to ask. “Please keep taking Prunus and let’s see you in a month,” he concluded.

A month later, just last week, I was in his office again. The PSA was still low. “This is great,” he said after seeing the latest report. “What took us so long?’’ he said, as if talking to himself. “Let me see you in a couple of months. Be sure to keep taking Prunus.”

“Do you know the correct dosage?” I decided to ask. I explained that I had been drinking tea after boiling bark from the Prunus trees in our compound, and was not sure how much to use.

“There is no proper dosage for some of these herbal medicines, but just keep taking what you have been. It doesn’t really have side effects.”

So, yes, I will keep praying, thanking God, and taking Prunus Africana and several other herbs that are readily available in our home.

Before discovering this new concoction, I had made a serious mistake. I knew that Prunus was known to help some people, I just did not know what part of the tree was supposed to be used. So, for the last three years, I have been drying the leaves, making powder and swallowing capsules. The results were not very impressive. But during the lock down, I took time to pray intensely for a lot of things: ministry, family, finances and also my health. I felt the Lord nudging me to do more research on Prunus and other herbs. I found out two things.

First, it is the bark of Prunus Africana tree, not the leaves, that serves this medicinal purpose. It relaxes blood vessels, fights cancer, relieves stress, enables proper pumping of the heart, reduces cholesterol and, yes, reduces the symptoms of benign prostatic hypertension (enlargement of the prostate) in males over 40. The list continues—but for our purposes we will  stop there. The other herb I was drawn to is corn silk. That’s a story for another day.

It is reported in 2 Kings that Hezekiah had a boil. He was going to die because of it. When he prayed, God answered his prayer and decided to extend his life by fifteen years. After Isaiah gave him the good news, he gave other instructions to Hezekiah’s caregivers. Isaiah 31:21 says, “Let them take a lump of figs and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.” 2 Kings 20:7 adds, “So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.”

Our God is and always will be our Healer. There are times we will just pray and He will heal. Other times, we might need to see a doctor. Then, there are times when we might need a “lump of figs.” In all these, He receives the glory!

~ Ibrahim