The Miraculous Provider

By Ken Walker-

Six months ago I premiered this blog with an anecdote about the feature I wrote that mentioned a residential drug treatment center. It soon prompted an anonymous donor to send the center a $200,000 donation.

Even though they are worth it, such stories typically don’t make headlines. For one, the donor doesn’t want any publicity. Nor does the recipient crave attention, since current or potential donors may divert gifts and other support elsewhere.

Miraculous Provision

Still, when I hear about God providing miraculously, and in a way that furthers His work, I feel compelled to pass it on. After recently meeting Jason Lovins, I felt it worth sharing how this musician became a touring professional.

It started after he formed a band in college that secured enough bookings to get invited to play at a series of teen summer camps. That snowballed into annual camp appearances and other invitations. Finally, the self-described “poor student” dropped out of school to pursue a music career.

However, Jason found himself going solo after fellow band members graduated or went on to other endeavors.

Then came a call from a friend with a fire-and-water restoration company; he had lots of work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He wanted Jason to run one of his crews. However, no sooner had Jason packed his bags than the job offer fell apart. His buddy had too much to do in Charlotte to leave North Carolina.

$5,000 Guitars

Soon after that, a former youth pastor Jason met while touring called to say he had become the pastor of a church in southeastern Kentucky: “Why don’t you come down and lead worship for us on Sunday morning?”

This didn’t constitute a dream position. Located in a town of less than 2,000 people, the church was a 90-minute drive from his home. The job only paid $200 a week. At first, Jason resisted, but the pastor urged him to come and check it out.

By the third Sunday, the new worship leader sensed that he was supposed to be there. The reasons soon became evident.

That morning his guitar shorted out during the service. Afterwards, an elderly member named Richard asked, “If you could have any guitar in the world, what would it be?”

“A McPherson,” Jason replied. “But it costs $5,000; I’ll probably never own one.”

That night, the pastor handed him a check for $5,000, courtesy of Richard.

Salary Supplements

When Jason returned the next Sunday, his benefactor asked, “Is it everything you wanted?”

“It’s the best I’ve ever had my hands on,” he replied.

“Do you need another one? Do you need a back-up? What else do you need?”

“I’m fine,” Jason replied, but Richard kept pressing for details.

Finally, Jason shared about planning to borrow money to record a CD and repay the loan via album sales. He estimated the cost at $5,000, but Richard offered $7,500. Not only did this generous member pay for the CD, he also supplemented Jason’s church salary.

Months later, knowing that he needed a new sound system, a deacon told Jason, “If you don’t talk to Richard about that, he’ll probably be pretty upset with you.”

That led to an invitation to a personal visit, where the businessman “called him out” for not believing in God’s bigness: “If you did, you would just call me and tell me what you need and we’d take care of it.”

Launching a Career

Richard proceeded to describe driving to Texas regularly when first establishing his oil and gas businesses and praying, “Lord, if I’m going to keep this business going I need a new car.” A week later, he owned several cars.

“Now I need to know what you need,” he told Jason. “You need to understand if you ask for a Ford you get a Ford, and if you ask for a Cadillac you get a Cadillac.”

Jason told him $17,000 would get him everything; Richard replied that he would need a couple weeks to get the cash. Before it was all over, Jason spent about $20,000 to take the Jason Lovins Band to new heights.

Jason finally sold that sound system in 2012 when he upgraded. Both it and the four CDs he has recorded—without benefit of a major label recording contract—came courtesy of a man who lives in a simple A frame house in the country.

“That man got me started and it was a huge blessing, and it was because of going somewhere that made no sense,” Jason says. “That’s kind of been my career. I’ve done so many things that made no sense on paper but the Lord has opened so many doors.”

We do serve a big God, but too often we don’t believe it.