Who is the Provider?

It was an early Monday morning in February 1991 and I was putting the finishing touches to closeout an over-budget project that I had inherited from another employee who had left, and had spent all weekend working on. The firm was in a state of turmoil with canceled projects and downsizing resulting from a massive reduction in backlog resulting from the recession resulting from the Savings & Loan debacle.

As I arrived at the office, I was greeted by an announcement on the PA system that there would be a staff meeting in about 2 minutes. At the meeting we were told there was going to be a layoff of approximately 40-percent of the staff, and that those persons being laid-off would be contacted in their offices after the meeting. So, almost everyone went back to their offices waiting for the "dreaded" phone call.

About an hour later my phone rang. As soon as I answered it, I instantly knew the purpose of the call. I answered the summons to the Vice-President's office, and some minutes later blindly made my way back to my office struggling with the feeling of how was I, as sole bread-winner, going to provide for my wife and 4 children.

The next few days I struggled to find my footing and mechanically went through putting my projects in order for someone else to take over. Thursday morning rolled around and with it my 6:00AM Men's Prayer Breakfast I'd been attending for not quite a year. This group of men was a new experience for me in my Christian life, and had become a highlight in my week. That morning I was given a few minutes to express my concern for finding a job and providing for my family. After breakfast, one of our number, Art (who was later to become a treasured mentor), came up to me and asked "Ed, who is the Provider?"

In the days ahead I pondered Art's question. And so it was to become a major "theme" in my life and my family's over the next 15 months of unemployment and beyond, as I came to realize I was not the Provider. God was (and still is). Vignettes still come back to me now: a neighbor showing up at the door with a roast saying "this had your name on it"; three bags of groceries left in the car while we were in church; a call to do some contract work for an long time friend; an envelope thrust in the door of the house while we were out with some cash in it; a hand thrusting currency in my pocket as I was jostled in a crowded hall at church; . . . I could go on. I still marvel that we never missed a mortgage payment, nor defaulted on the car loan.

One specific incident I'd like to share. I was being pressed very hard on a substantial past-due bill a year into this unemployed period, and had been praying for a solution, because there were no funds available to pay it. I had not shared this with anyone, however, that Thursday morning one of the men at the Men's Prayer Breakfast said "I believe that we need to bless Brother Ed this morning", and they passed the basket around. I was handed the proceeds which I put in my pocket. Later, I found that the amount plus the $5 I had in my pocket was enough to pay the bill. Oh, by the way, in the 40+ years this group has met, this has only occurred 3 times.

I've had a number of occasions recently in the challenging economic times we face to recall this period in my life in 1991-92 and share with others the knowledge that God, not Ed, is my Provider. Today we refer to that period as "God's Provision 101" and periodically recall some of the stories of God’s provision during that time.

Ed McCorkle 8/2010

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