Elisabeth Adams

Meet Griselda.

Griselda is one of my Ebenezers, a reminder of God’s provision for His child. Five years ago, as a poor college student who persisted in flying back and forth repeatedly over the Atlantic Ocean, I lugged a tank-like early laptop around with me, figuring it’d be a year at least before I could return home and earn the money to buy myself a new one.

Wrong.

Out of sheer grace, several people banded together and presented me with a gift: this computer, a tangible reminder that God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or think.”

Five years to the day after acquiring her, I dropped Griselda, dealing her a solid blow on the solar plexus. At first the results were merely whimsical: the CD drive began popping open randomly, like some high tech jack-in-the-box. The more ominous symptoms were slower in coming, but come they did.

Thanks to a whole new series of God’s provisions, I found and bought a new and improved laptop, which calmly proceeded to lap up all the time I didn’t have with set-up, incompatibilities, and sheer craziness.

Somehow I figured that a new computer meant a trouble-free life.

Not so much.

In fact, it was only one glitch in a whole series of troubles that kept me from writing when I wanted to.

A good journalist goes out of his way to actually experience the things he is writing about. A disciple of Jesus goes out of his way to follow first, and talk second. This is convicting and challenging for me as a writer and as a disciple!

Fortunately, He is involved in the process: I figure that whenever I’m writing about God, He is writing something in my life as well.

Or chiseling it in, for good measure.

Recently, a phrase from the story of the wedding at Cana caught my eye. Jesus had just turned the water into wine, so unobtrusively that hardly anyone knew where all these exquisite refreshments were coming from.

“But the servants that had drawn the water knew.”

Every day I’m served by some other child of God. And (God helping me) I write to serve them!

Behind the scenes is Jesus.

Few see how many hidden provisions make that service possible, how many unseen words are written into hearts before pen can meet paper with integrity and power.

“But the servants that had drawn the water knew.”