I’ve heard it said and I believe it, “It’s better to be trusted than loved.” (David O. McKay) Love may be freely given, but ‘trust’ has to be earned. When we trust the Lord, He can save us. When the Lord can trust us, He can use us.

You remember Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brothers. Their cruelty and lies brought unspeakable grief to their father. Once in Egypt, it was Potiphar who bought Joseph, and it didn’t take long for Potiphar to come to like Joseph, and to trust him. I mean, everything Joseph did seemed to prosper. And Joseph served Potiphar faithfully, so much so that in time Potiphar came to trusted Joseph, and made him overseer over his entire house. All that he owned and the management thereof was entrusted to Joseph.

And then came Potiphar’s less than faithful wife. “… Lie with me,” she said. (Genesis 39:7)

Well, Joseph was a handsome and a well-favored young man in a strange land far away from his family. These people – these Egyptians – they did not believe in the same God that Joseph did. Their moral standards were not the same as his. If he gave in to her enticings, who would know? Who would see? – and even more, who would care?

God would, and so would Joseph. And that’s what trust is all about – to be faithful when you don’t have to be.

“There is none greater in this house than I,” Joseph said to Potiphar’s wife, “neither hath he (meaning Potiphar) kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God.” (Genesis 39:9)

Can you hear what Joseph’s saying? Potiphar trusted him, and Joseph knew that. And to do as she asked was to betray the trust of Potiphar and God, and such betrayal – to Joseph, he called “great wickedness and sin.” To betray trust is wickedness!

Potiphar’s wife was a liar, and consequently Joseph was cast into prison. And once in prison, again Joseph gained the trust of the prison’s keeper, and was entrusted – this is interesting – Joseph, a prisoner, was entrusted with the management of the prison, and all the prisoners.

Later, when Pharaoh himself faced a terrible national crisis, he turned to Joseph. He brought him forth out of the prison, and set him over all the land of Egypt. What a trust! There was none greater in Egypt than Joseph, except Pharaoh. And with that trust, Joseph was faithful to it. Pharaoh trusted him, and in the end, not only did Joseph save Egypt, but all the surrounding nations as well, including his own family.

Indeed, Joseph was a man to be trusted, and wouldn’t you want a man such as that as your friend? Maybe that’s why in these last days the Lord turned to Joseph’s children, and entrusted them with the responsibility to gather up the Lord’s people before the fires of the Second Coming.

Again, it is better to be trusted than loved.