Last year, a small group of women gathered in a home to watch the Saturday evening session of General Conference. As one of the Apostles walked to the podium to speak, a woman in the group muttered in an irritated voice, “If they mention the covenant path one more time…!” It seemed to her that the covenant path was all the leaders of the church talked about. She was frustrated, tired of the topic.
Can you relate to that sentiment? Have you heard the prophets and apostles repeatedly address the same topic and wished they would talk about something else? In recent years we have heard many of the following phrases over and over:
- The covenant path
- Spiritual momentum
- Hear Him
- Gather Israel
- Make and keep sacred covenants
- A higher, holier way
- Let God prevail
I recall in my teens wondering why I was constantly being reminded that I was a daughter of God. It seemed that every Young Women’s lesson and each talk from the general Young Woman’s presidency addressed that subject until I found myself thinking, “Okay, okay! I’m a daughter of God–I get it!” But the truth is, I didn’t understand the full implications of being a daughter of God, or I wouldn’t have felt frustrated by the repetition from my leaders. It wasn’t until I sincerely pondered what was so important about that particular truth that my heart began to open to its real meaning, and I not only viewed myself in a different light, but everyone around me
When President Russell M. Nelson addressed the Young Adults of the Church in May 2022, I totally related to his message:
“My dear friends, you are literally spirit children of God. You have sung this truth since you learned the words to “I Am a Child of God.” But is that eternal truth imprinted upon your heart? …I fear that you may have heard this truth so often that it sounds more like a slogan than divine truth. And yet, the way you think about who you really are affects almost every decision you will ever make.” (1)
Could our prophet’s words also apply to the covenant path? “The way you think about [the covenant path] affects almost every decision you will ever make.”
We might consider the following statement of President Henry B. Eyring if we feel irritated when our leaders repeatedly reference the covenant path: “When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention…” (2)
There may be several reasons that we become frustrated with hearing about the covenant path from our leaders frequently. It could be that our testimony of living prophets and apostles is shaky. We may be guilty of unrepented sins that prevent us from having the Spirit with us. But maybe it is as simple as the fact that the last place Satan wants us to be is on the covenant path. It should be no surprise that he plants doubts, frustration, and irritation in our minds to distract us from following Jesus Christ.
The Savior alluded to this when He taught the parable of the sower: “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” (Matthew 13:24-25)
In the Americas, after the prophesied signs of Christ’s birth appeared, Satan worked his mischief again: “…there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe…” (3 Nephi 1:22)
I have always appreciated the response of young Nephi, when his father Lehi led his family into the wilderness, leaving everything behind because he claimed God had commanded it. It is unlikely that Nephi was any more thrilled than Laman and Lemuel to leave his friends, his comfortable life, and all that was familiar behind, but even as his older brothers murmured and struggled with the situation, Nephi took his questions to the Lord.
“And thus Laman and Lemuel…did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them … And it came to pass that I, Nephi…did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart… wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.” (1 Nephi 2:12,16, emphasis added)
If we’re frustrated or irritated by the words of our church leaders, it’s time to take our concerns to the Lord. Contention, irritation, and frustration are not of God. They are contrary to the peace, light, and comfort of the Holy Spirit. Nothing the prophets have taught about the covenant path is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. In fact, the covenant path begins with the doctrine of Christ: Faith in Him, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost.
Once we have prayed for the Lord to soften our hearts, we’re in better position to study and ponder about the meaning of the covenant path:
“What is the covenant path? It is the one path that leads to the celestial kingdom of God.” (3) The covenant path is the journey we take to draw closer to God and to receive all of the blessings He has promised. The purpose of the covenant path is to help us develop Christlike attributes, and to fulfill our divine potential.
My overall impression of the recently updated temple endowment film is that it clarifies what we covenant to do. All who have received their temple endowment have taken a critical step toward unleashing God’s power in their life. Truman G. Madsen wrote, “…no covenant is ever required of us that isn’t immediately followed by a divine blessing to further enable us to keep it. So, if we are baptized, we receive the promise of the Holy Ghost. If we partake of the sacrament, we are promised the Spirit will be with us… And in the house of the Lord, we likewise are promised an endowment of power, equivalent to the consecration of our own efforts in keeping our covenants.” (4)
Elder D. Todd Christofferson has taught, “In the covenant path we find a steady supply of gifts and help.” (5) When we show by our thoughts, words, and actions that keeping our covenants is a priority, we may be surprised at the kind of help made available to us. we may receive callings or assignments that allow us to participate in building God’s kingdom in significant ways. We may gradually notice that we’ve been blessed with a gift of the spirit which we had not previously enjoyed–a gift bestowed in order to help us do heaven’s work. God’s power may manifest itself through material assistance, unexpected opportunities, the help of loved ones on the other side of the veil, or a new talent which emerges, all of which allow us to gather Israel in different ways than we have done before. And when God asks hard things of us, “our faithfulness to our covenants allows us to expect the Lord’s assistance, even by miracles.” (6)
If these are the blessings of walking the covenant path, sign me up! I crave the power of God in my life to strengthen me to do His work. But the path is definitely an uphill climb. I appreciate Dr. Jennifer Platt’s realistic description: “Do you ever wonder about the covenant path? I love that visual [of a path] … Sometimes I hear people talking about it… and they describe an ordinance path. We want to delineate it, make it a checklist… I was baptized, I received the Holy Ghost, the priesthood, and the temple [endowment]. The reality of the covenant path is that it’s work… The covenant path is more about engagement. It’s about living the covenants. It’s more about practicing and becoming, than it is about a delineated process. And there’s a messiness in that, because it necessitates engagement with other people.” (7)
Elder Dale G. Renlund recently spoke of a fascinating phenomenon involving “… the most powerful river in the world, the Amazon River. Despite the river’s strength, twice a year something seemingly unnatural happens. When the sun, moon, and earth are aligned just so, a powerful tidal wave flows up the river, against the natural flow of the water. Waves up to [20 feet] high traveling as far as [30 miles] upstream have been documented. This phenomenon…is referred to locally as pororoca, or “great roar,” because of the loud noise it makes. We can correctly conclude that even the mighty Amazon must yield to heavenly powers.
Like the Amazon, we have a natural flow to our lives; we tend to do what comes naturally. Like the Amazon, with heavenly help we can do seemingly unnatural things. After all, it is not natural for us to be humble, meek, or willing to submit our wills to God. Yet only by doing so can we be transformed, return to live in the presence of God, and achieve our eternal destiny…
By connecting to God’s power, we become our own pororoca, able to go against the flow of the world… Ultimately, our destinies are changed because the covenant path leads to exaltation and eternal life.” (8)
If we find ourselves struggling with the counsel of our leaders, consider the powerful words of President Ezra Taft Benson: “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” (9)
Notes:
- President Russell M. Nelson, Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, May 2022.
- Henry B. Eyring, Finding Safety in Counsel, General Conference, April 1997.
- Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Why the Covenant Path, General Conference, April 2021.
- Truman G. Madsen, The Temple, Where Heaven Meets Earth, p.18, Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2008, emphasis added.
- Elder D. Todd Christofferson, The Power of Covenants, General Conference, April 2009.
- Cory B. Jensen, Understanding Your Endowment, p.6, Cedar Fort Inc., Springville, Utah, 2015, emphasis added.
- Jennifer B. Platt, Follow Him podcast, episode 40.
- Elder Dale G. Renlund, Accessing God’s Power through Covenants, General Conference, April 2023.
- In Donald L. Staheli, “Obedience—Life’s Great Challenge,” General Conference, April 1998.
