Trust: it’s an essential ingredient in relationships but trusting someone means taking a risk.  It’s a risk because the outcome of something that matters to you is in someone else’s hands.  And they might let you down.

So when Jacob is approaching his death and he’s desperate to be buried with his fathers in Canaan rather than in Egypt, he needs someone he can trust.  Who does he turn to?  Joseph (Genesis 47:29-31).  Why?  Because he trusts him.

Trust is built up over time.  It’s like a joint bank account where two parties keep putting money in.  Every now and then there will be a small withdrawal, a small breach of trust, but if the account stays in the black the relationship will survive.  If it goes into the red it can be very difficult to recover.  And when it comes to large withdrawals, Joseph’s brothers had made plenty.  Jacob wasn’t going to trust them.

So how do you build trust?  It’s a matter of character and competence.

If you want to be trustworthy you must demonstrate consistency (showing no major fluctuations in life style or mood swings), integrity (you must walk the talk) and reliability (you must keep your word). 

Joseph had demonstrated them all by the bucket load.  And Jacob knew it.

I think it’s good practice to take stock of ourselves every now then on these issues.  How am I doing?  If I feel angry, do I vent it or can people be confident that I will always react well?  Do I live the way I claim to?  Do I say I’ll do something when I don’t really mean to – “I’ll call you!” – just to appease someone?  Jesus said very simply, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ no,” Matthew 5:37.

And how about you?  How are you doing and what could you improve to become even more trustworthy?