“For it is God who works in you, giving you the desire and power to act according to his will and good purposes.”

Philippians 2:13 (NIV)

Growing up a city girl, terms like Rattlesnake roundup, Catfish noodling, and Pecan Tree grafting was not in my vocabulary. It was not until I married into a family with a country farm in Texas that I began to learn these things. 

The rattlesnakes spike my adrenaline. The catfish piques my interest. But I find tree grafting to be mysterious. It is astonishing to me how you can take a root of one tree and a tender shoot from another and join them together to transform it into something different, new, and better. 

Grafting can be used for a number of reasons to mold the tree into a new normal; to repair injured trees, to produce a different variety of fruit and flavor, to strengthen the trees resistance, to create a tree that is in the same form but of smaller size, or to establish and encourage reproduction. 

As I have not experimented with the grafting of Pecan Trees personally, I do see the mature results of many grafts over the years.  I cannot help but wonder what if they had not been so tenderly cared for? 

Would they be as strong and resilient to the elements and the droughts? Would their shells be fragile, and their meat be stale? Would they even bear any fruit at all?

These are similar questions we should ask ourselves, knowing we are created in God’s image. When I was growing up in church, I never gave much thought to the term sanctification. In fact, I never really paid any attention to it at all. But once I realized that there was more to being a Christian than just going to church and knowing a few Bible verses, God began to teach me what sanctification meant. And now I realize it is much like being grafted, just as the Pecan Trees are.

We are all tender shoots that the Father, our Root, desires to graft. Sanctification is the continual work of the Holy Spirit in a believer that transforms us into His likeness. And just as I am mystified by the grafting of trees, I am also mystified at how He chooses such imperfect vessels as us, to be His Holy Temple. He entrusts us with His work – in us and through us, and cares tenderly for us as He transforms us into Who He created us to be! “For it is God who works in you, giving you the desire and power to act according to his will and good purposes” (Philippians 2:13).

When we invite Him into our hearts and allow Him to be rooted there, we too should find a new normal as He does what only God can do; healing our internal hurts, strengthening our endurance to resist temptations, altering our lifestyles for the better, softening our words and actions, refining our perspectives, ripening our fruit through enhanced attitudes, beliefs, and desires, and by empowering us to aid in the growth of others. 

This past year we have all had to find a new normal in our daily lives. And because we are all made perfect through Christ and clothed with God’s goodness, I pray that your new normal is found through the revelation of God’s mighty plans to restore you, redeem you and empower you with his inner strength. I pray that you will invite him in to make his home in your hearts as you trust in Him, and that your roots grow deep into His love, keeping you strong. And I pray that you receive divine understanding of how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is for you, (Ephesians 3:14-19), and that you will be empowered to be a vessel, in which He will use to display his extraordinary love and glory to those who do not know. 

12 Words 

God can change us all! Let Him begin creating your new normal. 

Dear God, I want to be rooted in your love and be willing to be shaped by you. I invite you to graft me into a different and new creation that bears your name and reflects your image. May this transformation become my new normal as my love and desire for you grows stronger. Amen. 

Scripture Reflection:
Ephesians 3:14-20
Philippians 2:13
2 Corinthians 5:17