Part of Heavenly Father’s plan for our eternal happiness is to give us responsibilities and then to help us live up to the trust He has placed in us.
Generations of record-keepers in the Book of Mormon conscientiously preserved and added to the sacred records containing the history of their people. When Alma passed those records on to his son Helaman, he said:
Remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred….
And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God….
But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words.
Alma 37:14-16
Helaman later led a remarkable army of 2,000 young men. Among the qualities he most admired in them was this: “They were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted” (Alma 53:20).
When Joseph Smith lost the first 116 pages he translated, the Lord reminded him of his responsibility:
Behold, you have been entrusted with these things, but how strict were your commandments; and remember also the promises which were made to you, if you did not transgress them.
Doctrine and Covenants 3:5
Even though Joseph had fallen short of God’s expectations, the Lord reassured him, “Thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:10).
When Joseph Knight sought guidance from the Lord in May 1829, Joseph Smith received a revelation which included the following instruction:
And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.
Doctrine and Covenants 12:8
Sometimes the Lord gives us a limited responsibility so that we can demonstrate that we can be trusted with a greater one. Of Amos Davies, the Lord said, “When he shall prove himself faithful in all things that shall be entrusted into his care, yea, even a few things, he shall be made ruler over many” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:113).
As Elder Richard J. Maynes has taught:
Earning the Lord’s trust is a blessing that comes through great effort on our part. Trust is a blessing based on obedience to God’s laws. Earning the Lord’s trust comes as a result of being true to the covenants we have made in the waters of baptism and in the holy temple. When we keep our promises to the Lord, His trust in us grows.
“Earning the Trust of the Lord and Your Family,” General Conference, October 2017
Today, I will be grateful for the trust the Lord has placed in me. I will strive to be worthy of that trust, to fulfill my responsibilities with diligence and self-discipline. Like the keepers of the Nephite record, and like the armies of Helaman, I will strive to be “true at all times in whatsoever thing [I am] entrusted.”