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Edward B. Rowe | Jesus Christ Is Our Rock and Covenants Are Our Anchors | November 2025
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Welcome to the Recent Speeches podcast presented by BYU Speeches, featuring inspiring new devotionals and forums given each week on BYU Campus. Be sure to check out our other podcasts by searching BYU Speeches wherever you get your podcasts or by visiting speeches BYU Edu Podcasts.
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This devotional address entitled Jesus Christ is Our Rock and Covenants Are Our Anchors was given on November 4th of 2025 by Edward B. Rowe, then a general authority 70 of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You are quite an impressive group. I am grateful to be here today and I can't think of any other place that I'd rather be than with you. If I were in charge, I think I would make one modification though that would make this about perfect and that would be that I would be sitting about right there and one of you would be standing here. In all seriousness, I'm thankful for this assignment to be here. At this stage in your life. There are many uncertainties that can keep you up at night, right? You're in what I call a period of the great what ifs. What if I don't get good grades? What if I choose 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 18, I thought I had my life all figured out. I came on a football scholarship. My plan was play one year, serve a mission, then return to have a great football career. I would marry my high school sweetheart, study pre med, 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 planned. Gratefully, after my mission, I did marry Brooke, my amazing high school sweetheart. However, there were no football glory days, no pre med degree, no future career in sports medicine, and despite years of trying, no children. From the outside, my life may have looked like 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 the Lord was redirecting my path. He was forging my character in ways I could not then understand. As painful as those times were and the trials that have come since, I am grateful for them. They have given me unshakable trust in Jesus Christ and a deep love for him and our Heavenly Father. That trust could not have come any other way. As I have stayed faithful, Heavenly Father has opened opportunities that I simply could not have imagined. I hope I can share today some thoughts and experiences that will help you. I pray the Holy Ghost will be present. I hope he will teach you individually how to develop confidence capable of overcoming any fear or anxiety you may feel about your life and future. Let's begin with a few words about confidence. What is your confidence based on? It is easy to look for confidence in all the wrong places. If our confidence is based on what we believe others think of usour 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. Confidence that is born of the Spirit is a confidence instilled in us by God. It is a confidence that is not subject to the conditions of our lives because it is rooted in Christ through sacred promises made and kept with Him. 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 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 even though the climber who is anchored to the rock does not fall to the ground. He often slips and even finds himself detached from the rock, suspended in the air. In climbing, this is not failure it is part of the process. When 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 projecting a route, trying again and again, at times slipping, until persistence and learning enable him to overcome his obstacles. Because the climber is clipped to anchors, each slip is temporary each attempt slips safe. The climber can be confident in the solid anchors to prevent him from plummeting as he navigates his ascent. In this analogy, gravity represents opposition that is essential to Heavenly Father's 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, they 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 and to connect ourselves securely to the rock. The summit represents exaltation, reaching Heavenly Father's presence in his highest glory. And most importantly, the rock is Jesus Christ. The vital truth of this analogy is only by directly engaging and when we slip re engaging 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 bound to the Rock of Heaven. Every setback becomes part of the ascent. Every fall 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, our very natures change because of the climb. Through our direct and repeated interactions with the rock, we become more perfected climbers. President Nilsen 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. He 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. Let me share with you an experience that happened when I was at BYU 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 ever heard of me. As a former player, I proved my point. During the second day of practice my sophomore year, I sustained an injury. Suddenly I was sidelined and unable to play. Just as I felt I was gaining momentum, trying to crack into the rotation, I was distraught. That was not my plan. Even more to my surprise, while recovering from surgery, I started to have 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 and my identity. I remember the day I went to speak to Coach Lavelle Edwards about how I was feeling. He told me that he trusted me to make the right decision and that God may have 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 didn't know what I should do. I felt lost. I questioned many times my decision. 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, to go to church and attend the temple. I didn't turn bitter toward God. I felt like 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, 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 like I had found a foothold. One class led to a second. During winter semester, I saw a notice on the 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, Brooke and I decided 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 up a cardboard sign with my name on 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 waiting four women and a dinner. I immediately pointed to my wedding ring to make 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. Maya Viera. My faith. Disappointed. Igor then pulled out a bottle of vodka to celebrate. I shook my head again and said, no, thank you, my Aviera, my faith. He then pulled out a bottle of wine, surely. I drank that again. I said what were now my two favorite words. Maya viera. Next came the coffee, then the tea. Again maya viera. Exasperated, he turned on the faucet and filled up a glass of water. But I'd 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 bedroom. I walked in. There, on the wall, were pornographic posters. I pinned them backwards to hide the images. When he saw this, he said with a tinge of sarcasm, TV 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 I neither expected or 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. I often laid 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 to 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. My confidence grew. I had strength to reach the next handhold, gripping to 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 restricted lifestyle. I chose to live by covenant to follow Jesus Christ. When I first met Igor, he acted like he was the happiest guy in the world. Over time, that facade crumbled. I could see 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 President Nilsen what he had. Those who keep their covenants with God will become a strain of sin resistant souls. 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 of 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. 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 the 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 Brook to live and work in an orphanage. My experience in Russia helped me to get accepted to a good law school. These experiences 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, born of the Spirit through striving to be true to my 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. A relationship built by making and keeping sacred promises with him by covenant. It is in and through him that you will find the confidence you need. Listen to the Savior's words. To 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. 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 Savior Christ has chosen you. He has done all that is necessary to redeem you. What you must do is to choose him. Choose Jesus Christ to be your rock, whom you will anchor yourself to 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. Remember again Christ's own words. I am Messiah, the Rock of Heaven. Whoso cometh in at the gate, whoso entereth covenant 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 said essential to God's great plan for the mortal growth of his children was for them to experience opposition in all things. Just as our physical muscles cannot be developed or maintained without straining against the law of gravity, Soul Mortal growth requires us to strain against Satan's temptations and and other mortal opposition. President Oaks continues. Most important for spiritual growth is the requirement to choose between good and evil. Those who choose good would progress toward their eternal destiny. My relationship with Christ has given me confidence not to take counsel from my fears. In times of opposition and uncertainty, covenants have made that relationship possible. That covenantal confidence has helped me to develop the faith in Christ to do hard things 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. 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 have made with the Lord. He will direct your path. 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. 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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