Jesus Christ Is Our Rock and Covenants Are Our Anchors 

Introduction

At this stage in your life, there are many uncertainties that can keep you up at night. You’re in what I call a period of the great “What ifs.” What if I don’t get good grades? What if I chose the wrong major? What if I go bald? What if I can’t find a job? What if I never marry? What if! What if! What if! There’s a lot you can stress about.

When I came to BYU at the age of 18, I thought I had my life all figured out. I came on a football scholarship. My plan was simple: play one year, serve a mission, then return to have a great football career. I would marry my high school sweetheart, study premed, become an orthopedic surgeon, and have a large, happy family—maybe even one or two kids before graduation. I had it all mapped out.

At graduation six years later, nearly nothing had worked out the way I had planned. Gratefully, after my mission, I did marry Brooke, my amazing high school sweetheart! However, there were no football glory days. There was no premed degree. There was no future career in sports medicine. And, despite years of trying, there were no children.

From the outside, my life may have looked as if it had gone terribly off course. Inside, I felt moments of uncertainty and disappointment as plans unexpectedly and dramatically shifted. But now I can see that the Lord was redirecting my path. He was forging my character in ways I could not then understand. As painful as those times were—along with the trials that have come since—I am grateful for them. They have given me an unshakable trust in Jesus Christ and a deep love for Him and our Heavenly Father. That trust could not have come in any other way. And as I have stayed faithful to Him, Heavenly Father has opened opportunities that I simply could not have imagined.

I hope I can share some thoughts and experiences today that will help you. I pray the Holy Ghost will be present. I hope He will teach you individually how to develop a confidence that makes you capable of overcoming the fear or anxiety you may feel about your life and future.

Confidence Born of the Spirit

Let’s begin with a few words about confidence. What is your confidence based on? It’s easy to look for confidence in all the wrong places. If our confidence is based on what we believe others think of us, our ability to get likes and followers on social media, our physical appearance, our ability to do something better than others, how much money we make, or whether we accomplish a host of other things the world praises, then our confidence will be shallow and fleeting. It will be based on things we ultimately cannot fully control.

There is another type of confidence, however, that is available to us. President Russell M. Nelson declared, “When we make and keep covenants with God, we can have confidence that is born of the Spirit.”¹ Confidence that is born of the Spirit is a confidence instilled in us by God. It’s a confidence that is not subject to the conditions of our lives because it’s rooted in Christ through sacred promises made and kept with Him.

Our Covenantal Relationship with the Lord

How then does making and keeping covenants give us this type of confidence? To help answer this question, I’d like to share an analogy.

Picture a climber standing at the bottom of a vertical granite face. The climber’s goal is to reach the summit. Gravity makes scaling the cliff difficult, even perilous. The path is rarely straightforward. It’s discovered one reach, one foothold, and one careful step at a time.

Anchors have been driven securely into the hard rock, laying out a path to assist the climber. The climber can secure himself with carabiners that he clips to the anchors as he ascends. Because the anchors are in solid granite, they will hold.

Although the climber who is anchored to the rock doesn’t fall to the ground, he often slips and even finds himself detached from the rock and suspended in the air. In climbing, this is not failure—it is part of the process. While overcoming an especially difficult part of the climb, the climber analyzes the route and knows that multiple attempts may be required. In climbing, they call this process “projecting” a route—trying again and again and at times slipping until persistence and learning enable the climber to overcome his obstacles. Because the climber is clipped to anchors, each slip is temporary and each attempt safe. The climber can be confident in the solid anchors that prevent him from plummeting to the ground as he navigates his ascent.

In this analogy, the summit represents exaltation—reaching Heavenly Father’s presence in His highest glory. Gravity represents opposition that is essential to His plan—the many trials and temptations that come with life in a fallen world. Slips and falls symbolize our sins and flawed efforts as imperfect climbers striving to learn how to overcome life’s many challenges. Slips and falls are also inherent to His plan. The anchors are God’s covenants—promises we make in sacred ordinances to help us and to guide our path. The carabiners symbolize our personal choices to make and keep those covenants—to connect ourselves securely to the rock. And, most importantly, that Rock is Jesus Christ.²

The vital truth of the analogy is this: Only by directly engaging and, when we slip, reengaging with the Rock can we progress toward the summit. Indeed, Heavenly Father designed His plan so that we could rely upon and continually interact with Christ and His Atonement to ascend. Christ Himself declared:

I am Messiah . . . , the Rock of Heaven . . . ; whoso cometh in at the gate [whoso enters into covenant] and climbeth up by me shall never fall.³

Bound to the Rock of Heaven, every setback becomes part of the ascent. Every slip is recoverable. Every step forward brings us closer to the summit. Without our connection to Christ, unanchored and “free climbing,” our mistakes could prove fatal. Most importantly, when we are anchored securely through our direct and repeated interactions with the Rock, our very natures change because of the climb. We become more perfected climbers.

President Nelson taught:

The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way.⁴

President Nelson also taught:

We thereby create a relationship with God that allows Him to bless and change us. The covenant path leads us back to Him.⁵

Developing Covenantal Confidence Through Christ: From Football to Russia

Let me share with you an experience that happened when I was at Brigham Young University that embedded these truths deep into my heart. As I mentioned earlier, I did not become a star football player. (As evidence of that, raise your hand if you’ve heard of me as a former BYU player!) During the second day of practice during my sophomore year, I sustained an injury. Suddenly I was sidelined and unable to play—just as I felt I had been gaining momentum trying to crack into the rotation. I was distraught. That was not my plan!

Even more surprising, while recovering from surgery I started having repeated impressions that I should move forward without football to focus on academics. A passage of my patriarchal blessing kept coming to me. Never had I considered my life without football. This was deeply unsettling. Football had been a huge part of my life. I remember the day I went to speak to Coach LaVell Edwards about how I was feeling. He told me that he trusted me to make the right decision and that perhaps God had something else for me to do.

I decided to walk away from football. I stepped into the unknown. I believed God had shown me what not to do. But I did not know what I should do. I felt lost. I questioned my decision many times. What had I done? Over the months I often asked myself: “Was that my own head or the Spirit? Should I talk to Coach Edwards again and try playing?”

Thankfully I continued to pray, go to Church, and attend the temple. I didn’t turn bitter toward God. I felt as if I was dangling by my carabiners while searching for a path forward, but I stayed connected to the anchors.

Then, about a year later, still stumbling and “projecting” to find my way forward, I overheard a student talking about studying Russian. I knew very little about Russia, but I had a distinct feeling that I should investigate. I enrolled in Russian 101. I felt as if I had found a foothold.

One class led to a second. During winter semester I saw a notice on a wall on campus. It was about a small program from Florida that placed students in Russia for the summer. I had another impression.

The year was 1991. Russia was still part of the Soviet Union. It was not easy to live there. And I was newly married. Through prayer, my wife, Brooke, and I decided that I should go. Another handhold had appeared. And I took it.

We were poor students. I bought the cheapest flight to Europe and made my way to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). I slept at night on trains. I had never been to Europe or traveled internationally alone. I knew my Russian host’s name but had no photo of him. When I got off the train, I was shocked at how chaotic and huge the station was. There were no cell phones then. I took my bags, said a prayer, and began walking.

Thankfully, after what seemed an eternity, I saw a person in the distance holding a cardboard sign with my name on it. It was Igor, an energetic 26-year-old. We greeted each other and made our way to his car with his two friends.

When we arrived at his apartment, I was surprised to find four women and a dinner waiting for us. I immediately pointed to my wedding ring to make it clear that I was married and not interested. Igor had this puzzled look that said, “So what!”

So I added quickly the only religious words I knew, which I had learned on the train: “моя вера.” “My faith.”

Disappointed, Igor then pulled out a bottle of vodka to celebrate. I shook my head again and said, “No, thank you. моя вера.” “My faith.”

Igor then pulled out a bottle of wine. Surely I drank that. Again I said what were now my two favorite words: “моя вера.” Next came the coffee, then the tea. Again, “моя вера.”

Exasperated, Igor turned on the faucet and filled up a glass of water. But I had been told the tap water wasn’t safe. I declined again.

In just 10 minutes, my host was completely befuddled. His friends looked at each other as if to say, “What planet did he come from?” But I knew I had stayed true to my covenants, anchored to the Rock, and I felt peaceful.

After dinner, Igor gave me his room. I walked in. There were pornographic posters on the wall. I pinned them backward to hide the images. When he saw this, he said, with a tinge of sarcasm: “твоя вера.” “Your faith.”

The next morning I woke up and ate breakfast with Igor and his female “friend.” That became a repeated experience, except with different “friends.” I didn’t waver.

Igor continued his barrages to get me to join his lifestyle. My environment became heavy and at times dark. I felt alone. Once again I found myself in a predicament that I had neither expected nor wanted.

Had I really received spiritual promptings and made the right decision to come? I turned to the Lord like never before. I read the Book of Mormon faithfully each day. I prayed to the Lord with an earnestness I had not known before. I would often lie in bed visualizing the temple ordinances, rehearsing the covenants, and seeing myself in the celestial room with Brooke. Each small act of obedience to my covenants helped me stay firmly anchored to Christ as I struggled upward. I felt His peace and strength.

I remember yearning to partake of the sacrament. I had heard there were a few missionaries in Leningrad, but I didn’t know how to find them or the branch. One day I felt so alone that I pled with the Lord for help. That very day I exited the subway at an unfamiliar stop. I felt prompted to enter a bookstore. There, in a city of 5 million, stood two missionaries.

I began attending church each week. The sacrament felt more sacred. As I renewed my covenants, I felt Christ’s love for me. I felt the reality of the promise of the sacrament—that His Spirit would be with me.⁶ My confidence grew. I had strength to reach the next handhold, gripping the Rock.

As the summer wore on, Igor and I had long talks about life. At first he mocked me. Here I was on the other side of the world where no one could see me. I could do whatever I wanted. No one would ever know. In his eyes, I couldn’t be more “free.” And yet I chose to live what he thought was a restrictive lifestyle. I chose to follow Jesus Christ and live by covenant.

When I had first met Igor, he had acted as if he was the happiest guy in the world. Over time, that facade crumbled. I could see that he wasn’t happy. He finally confided in me that he felt empty. He had no clear way, no covenant path to follow. He did not know the Rock of Heaven. I witnessed firsthand what an unfettered life of alcohol, sexual promiscuity, and “anything goes” really produced, despite what he outwardly portrayed.

Because I was engaging the Rock daily, Igor’s worldly lifestyle was not appealing to me. I literally felt what President Nelson promised: “Those who keep their covenants with God will become a strain of sin-resistant souls!”⁷

On the other hand, Igor realized over time that I was happy. Even during my hardest days, deep down I was truly happy. Again I experienced another promise from President Nelson: “When the focus of our lives is on . . . Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.”⁸

The contrast between my happiness and his emptiness intrigued Igor. It led to deeper discussions with him and his friends about life’s purpose and how making and keeping sacred covenants with God brings joy. Eventually Igor and his friends began attending church. Some were baptized. Although Igor did not become a member of our Church, he recognized important truths of the gospel.

That summer changed me forever. It shaped my life in ways I could not have imagined. Because of my love for the Russian people, I returned the following year with Brooke to live and work in an orphanage. My experiences in Russia helped me get accepted to a good law school. They helped me, as a young lawyer, be chosen to live in Azerbaijan, then Ethiopia, Bosnia, and Belgium, and to work in the Middle East and other parts of the world. After years of infertility, things even worked out with our family. We were blessed to adopt two wonderful baby boys; five years later, Brooke gave birth to another son, followed by twin daughters.

These experiences deepened my love for and trust in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Had I not followed spiritual promptings and stepped away from football into the unknown, at times dangling with no visible holds, I never would have gone to Russia. Many of my most meaningful experiences that this decision made possible would likely not have happened. Nor would they have happened if I had left the covenant path while in Russia or thereafter.

Being true to my covenants and clinging to the Rock through life’s challenges and disappointments made these things possible. While slipping and struggling, imperfect in my climb, my covenantal relationship with the Lord kept me safe from free-falling. Most importantly, I came to know my Savior in a very personal way. I felt Him in my life. I developed a special confidence because of Him—a confidence born of the Spirit through striving to be true to my covenants.

Christ Will Bless You with Confidence Built Through Covenants

Let’s now return to where we started—talking about your feelings of fear and uncertainty. My friends, the antidote to fear and uncertainty is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, built by making and keeping sacred promises with Him by covenant.⁹ It is in and through Him that you will find the confidence you need. Listen to the Savior’s words to you:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.¹⁰

And also:

Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. . . .

For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.¹¹

Christ has chosen you. He has done all that is necessary to redeem you. What you must do is choose Him! Choose Jesus Christ to be your Rock to whom you will anchor yourself by covenant—then climb and ascend by Him, with Him, and through Him. As President Dallin H. Oaks recently declared, “Jesus Christ is the way”!¹² Remember again Christ’s own words: “I am Messiah . . . , the Rock of Heaven . . . ; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall.”

You need not feel completely certain to climb upward. Don’t freeze. Exercise faith. Stumbling and slipping are part of the process. Trust in your covenants to keep you suspended and safe. “Project” your route when necessary. But you keep moving! You need not fear—even when your course seems hard and uncertain—because you understand the important truth that there is divine purpose in adversity and opposition.

Our beloved prophet, President Oaks, has taught:

Essential to God’s great plan for the mortal growth of His children was for them to experience “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11). Just as our physical muscles cannot be developed or maintained without straining against the law of gravity, so mortal growth requires us to strain against Satan’s temptations and othermortal opposition. Most important for spiritual growth is the requirement to choose between good and evil. Those who choose good would progress toward their eternal destiny.¹³

My relationship with Christ has given me the confidence not to take counsel from my fears in times of opposition and uncertainty.¹⁴ Covenants have made that relationship possible. That covenantal confidence has helped me to develop faith in Christ to do hard things.¹⁵ And so it can be with you.

Remember:

And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.¹⁶

Conclusion

I invite you to strive to develop unshaken trust in and love for Jesus Christ. If you live your covenants as best you can, keeping His commandments and repenting as often as needed, you will come to know Him. Your confidence will be born of the Spirit—and it will grow. These are His promises to you! Anchor yourself to Him.

As you strive to honor the promises you’ve made with the Lord, “he shall direct thy paths.”¹⁷ Each of your paths will and should be different than mine and anyone else’s. But remember, although our paths are unique, each is to be within the covenant path!

Keeping covenants creates confidence. You’ve got this! You can do this—connected to and engaged with Christ through covenant. He loves you. And we love Him.

Of this I bear witness. Of Jesus Christ I bear witness. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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