When Jason Got into Serious Trouble

Post #8 in a Tale of Two Covenants

Jason did not like complicated.

But that’s what most of his short life had been. If only trouble would mind its own business and not come looking for him, he’d be all right.

He stared at his boss and knew the next words that were going to come out of his mouth.

“You’re fired.”

Yup. Didn’t he say it? Fired. From his dream job. Well, not really a dream job, but the job that took him from almost poverty to respectable. The job that allowed him to throw out his worn belt, faded trousers, and shirts that looked as if they would fall apart if they had to be washed one more time.

Jason wasn’t given the courtesy of going back to his office for his things. A security guard escorted him out of the premises and he could feel eyes boring into his back. At the door, something made him stop. He turned. Their eyes locked. She was standing in the stairwell, concealed from the others, watching him. Her lips curved. Gone was the girlish, coy look she always had ready for him. In its place was pure evil…or self-preservation. God knows he wasn’t thinking straight.

He felt a deep rage and for a moment, was afraid that if he moved, he would be charged for murder on top of everything. So he stood still, willing himself to slowly unclench his fists, until the guard nudged him on.

Broke Again

His car was seized. It belonged to the dream job. The apartment also. Basically, Jason was back to square one. On the streets and hustling. He sat down on the curb, his suitcase of measly possessions standing in mockery, and tried to pray.

Tried. Because it felt as if God wasn’t on his side.

Years of hard work, dedication and loyalty all gone down the drain.

For a while, a friend took him in. And then quickly got tired of him. He didn’t have to say it. Jason could see that his friend’s girlfriend didn’t like having him around. So he moved on. And moved again. Until finally, he got a job as a night watchman. It didn’t pay any bills. It only prevented him from starving. He only kept his phone for receiving calls. He carefully monitored his use of data. After all, the few friends he’d thought he had had vanished like smoke.

The night time gave him a lot of opportunity to reflect and pray. He’d figured that maybe God was dealing with other people, other things, and one day, He would get to Him. He didn’t really believe it but it helped comfort him that He wasn’t really forgotten. And he just really wished God would come through. This suffering was overrated.

How Success Looks Like

He’d tried to get his CV into different places but it seemed there was a stonewall that he just couldn’t get through. He’d considered changing churches, too. I mean, he was supposed to be an emergency case. Five years without a proper job? And they were his brothers and sisters? How?

Mired down in his depressing thoughts, he wasn’t really concentrating on whatever was coming from the pulpit. Actually, it was the story of Joseph. Honestly, if you asked him, it sounded too fantastic to be true. Not when he needed realistic miracles in his life.

The irony made him smile. There was nothing realistic about miracles.

The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man.

His attention snapped to what he’d just heard. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man. And he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. Genesis 39:2.

A man who had been sold and bought twice, now a slave in a strange land, a successful man? How come?

And how come he’d never noticed it before? That Joseph wasn’t successful after he had become prime minister of Egypt, but before, when he was a slave?

The voice from the pulpit droned in the background as he thought about this.

How did the Bible have the guts to call a slave successful? It didn’t make sense. And it rubbed him the wrong way.

Jonas read the verse again. And again. And again. There had to be a catch. Was this verse pre-empting what would happen to Joseph in the future? But the Bible was very deliberate about the tenses it used.

He was still thinking about it when he went to work at night. And then he saw it. It had been there all the time.

The Lord was with Joseph…

Jonas sat up in his chair as realisation dawned.

That was the key.

These days, almost everything had a password. Even the door to the security room where the feed from the CCTV cameras showed on the screens. And this was it. The password to unlocking the secret of Joseph’s success. The Lord was with Joseph and that made all the difference.

Jonas decided that perhaps, Joseph’s story was for him after all. Somehow, along the way, he had forgotten that he was not just any other man, but a man who had a covenant with God, a covenant the Lord Jesus had died on the cross to give him, shedding His blood and taking up every ugly situation, so he, Jonas, will always be successful.

Even right now, as a night watchman with a useless degree.

He’d always wondered about CCTV cameras. Tonight, he got to man an entire feed coming from the big house. Every inch of the compound was covered. He used his time to study how they worked and had fun piecing together a 360 coverage of the compound into a landscape image.

Until one day, he noticed something odd and told the security boss. They didn’t bother to fix the blind spot because it was just off by a few inches. Jason shrugged, used to being ignored. Until another day, there was commotion in the big house.

The normally temperamental boss was livid. Jason could not understand why. The security boss who called him to come quickly to the house could not give him a straight answer. Jason had been enjoying his sleep as he usually did after a night spent being awake and a heavy breakfast.

“We’ve had to suspend Wofa Yaw and Emma,” he announced grimly when Jason arrived. “Cover for them until I sort this out.”

Jason nodded, sitting behind the screens. But this time, they were not what he usually saw. The feed was from cameras inside the big house. Jason studied the screens carefully and again, tried to piece together section by section coverage of the interior into landscape images. Something bothered him on the first floor. Reluctantly, he showed it to his boss, just because everyone was being extra careful and maybe this time, they would do something.

He was surprised when the security boss not only showed more than a mild interest, but told him he wanted Jason to come with him for the daily status report to the big man.

“And I want you to explain what you have in your hand,” he added, nodding at the printout.

What happened after that was a blur.

Jason had thought his boss was going to make the presentation but immediately they entered the plush living room, he asked Jason to explain the blind spot he’d spotted on the first floor feeds. But there was something else. The camera had been rigged to play specific scenes in a looped video.

“Whats your name?” the big man asked.

“I’m Jason, sir.”

“He’s the night watchman,” his boss added helpfully.

“I see.”

He stood up. “For weeks now, I’ve wondered how my competitor got hold of information I had before I could do anything with it. Now I know.”

He turned to his chief of security. “Fix the blind spots. And I want a full review of all our security systems in the corporation.”

“Sir, the entire corporation?” There were seven offices in total. Two were not even local.

“Yes, the entire corporation. And one more thing.” He paused and looked at Jason. “Jason will head the inspection.”

Jason wondered if he had heard right.

“From now on, Jason, you’re head of security operations.”

Jason was afraid to be happy. What did it mean? But when the lawyers put the terms of his appointment in his hands, Jason knew God had never forgotten him.

He was dancing with his wife, the daughter of the vice-president of the corporation when he saw her in the crowd. She was standing arm in arm with her husband, his former boss. She didn’t see him, until much later during the banquet, he watched them walk up to the CEO’s table where he was also seated, to pay their respects as a partner agency. He saw the startled look on her face, noticed the discomfort on his as they mumbled the right things and were quickly shown away to make room for others.

He watched them leave and remembered years ago. They meant nothing to him now but he still remembered how his loyalty had been thrown in his face because he’d said no to what was wrong.

Actually, he hadn’t only said no when she’d sidled up to him in her best come-here-tither look, he had abandoned what he’d gone into the storeroom to do and he’d hightailed it.

Except she had been the boss’s wife and there was no explanation for why both of them had come out of the same small room in quick succession. He looking frazzled, and she running after him with lipstick partly smeared when she had tried to have a go at him. Her husband, his boss, had at that moment appeared on the corridor, and looked at her in surprise. So in a panic, she’d said the first thing that her brain could think of- that he, Jason, had tried to have his way with her.

Thank God for offices with security cameras. His former work place hadn’t had any of that sort. So he’d been thrown out in the street, a disgrace, stripped of everything he’d worked hard for.

He remembered. And remembered too that the Lord was faithful to His covenant. He had never ever forgotten him. He had just taken His time telling Jason’s story and Jason was more than happy to have been part of it.

The grace covenant at work…

If Jason sounds like a classic modern day Joseph, you’re right.

First, the plot twists and turns in Joseph’s story were just incredible. And maybe you feel that way about your life. You’ve got no idea what God is doing with it. You feel forgotten for all the wrong reasons. You wonder when you’ll get a break. But hey, Jesus’ love never fails. You can count on that. When, not if, your testimony comes in, you’ll be amazed. He has a covenant to establish with you and delights to prosper you.

Second, was Joseph for real? Who on earth runs away from delicious temptation served up freely? If you’ve ever wondered why Joseph’s story is there, I believe one reason is that the Lord loves you too much for you to settle for less.

And just a bonus something– when Joseph ran, it was probably because he was very tempted. If you think, “I can handle it. I’m spiritual. I’m strong,” bro, the spiritual response here is to run.

Fast.

Yes, like I promised, this one is for the guys. Your coolness is not in your conquests of the female species. Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? He who does so destroys his own soul. (from Proverbs 6)

But let your fountain be blessed, man of God! (Proverbs 5:18)

Look to Jesus for true success and stay high on grace!

---

Haven’t yet signed up for emails? You can do so below and never miss a post. See you next week for more on A Tale of Two Covenants.