There is a wonderful lesson taught to the four to eight year old children in Primary (the children’s auxiliary) about Heavenly Father. They are told the story of a prince who was kidnapped by bad men who tried to force him to be immoral. He withstood all pressure and temptation. After six months of failed attempts to corrupt the young prince, they asked him why he wouldn’t give in. He answered, “I cannot do what you ask, because I am the son of a king, and my father has taught me to do what is right. I was born to be a king.” The children are then taught that they too are the son or daughter of a king, the greatest king of all, their Heavenly Father, who trusts them to do what is right.
How does it make you feel to know that you are God’s child, and that He trusts you? Even on those days when you may not live up to that trust, He goes right on trusting you to do better in the future.
Think of some of the ways God has demonstrated His trust in you. First, He welcomed you into His church. He allowed you to take upon yourself the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. What a sacred responsibility it is to take on His name and to help to represent Him. As a new member of the church, you are just beginning to understand what it means to take the Savior’s name upon yourself, and yet He didn’t say, “Well, wait a few years until I decide if you’re going to be someone I want wearing the name of the Savior.” Instead, He allowed you to tell those in authority that you were trustworthy and then He trusted you to go ahead and begin to represent Him while you are still learning.
You may have been given a calling. A calling is a clear sign of God’s trust in you. He is trusting you with a small corner of His church, to care for and to build. The gospel matters to Him. Do you think it demonstrates a powerful trust to let you have responsibility over even the smallest part of it? It does.
If you have or will receive the priesthood, you are being given a very sacred trust. Elder Stanley G. Ellis of the First Quorum of the Seventy said, on the subject of the priesthood:
Brethren, think of what the Lord has given us—His power and authority! The power and authority to act for Him in all things pertaining to His work!
With this priesthood power and, when necessary, the authorization of those with appropriate keys, we can perform the ordinances of salvation in His name: baptize for the remission of sins, confirm and confer the Holy Ghost, confer the priesthood and ordain others to priesthood offices, and perform temple ordinances. In His name we can administer His Church. In His name we can bless, home teach, and even heal the sick.
What a trust the Lord has placed in us! Think of it, brethren. He trusts us!
Our Heavenly Father’s trust in us is a magnificent gift. It’s our responsibility to prove ourselves worthy of His trust. As we prove our worthiness, He will trust us more and more, until He trusts us to enter into His kingdom. It’s a gift worth working for.
The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.
