Podcast Summary: BYU Speeches

Episode: Edward B. Rowe | Jesus Christ Is Our Rock and Covenants Are Our Anchors
Date: November 5, 2025

Episode Overview

This BYU devotional, delivered by Edward B. Rowe (General Authority Seventy), addresses the anxieties and uncertainties faced by young adults. Rowe draws upon personal experiences to testify that Jesus Christ is the ultimate foundation ("our Rock"), and that covenants made and kept with God serve as spiritual anchors amidst the unpredictability of life. Using a vivid climbing analogy and stories from his own life—especially his transformative experiences in Russia—Rowe illustrates how confidence rooted in Christ and reinforced by keeping covenants brings peace, resilience, and guidance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Great What Ifs" and Life’s Uncertainties ([00:22])

• Rowe begins by empathizing with students’ worries: grades, careers, relationships, the unknown.
  • “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 never marry?” ([00:22])
• Relates his own BYU dreams (football, medical school, early family), and how almost none unfolded as planned.
  • “Six years later, nearly nothing had worked out the way I planned. ... But now I can see the Lord was redirecting my path. He was forging my character in ways I could not then understand.” ([01:50])

2. Sources of Confidence ([03:23])

• Warns against staking confidence on fleeting worldly metrics (social approval, achievement, appearance).
• Introduces “confidence born of the Spirit” as described by President Russell M. Nelson, available through making and keeping covenants with God.
  • “If our confidence is based on what we believe others think of us... then our confidence will be shallow and fleeting. ... There is another type of confidence, however, that is available to us.” ([03:40])
  • Quote: “When we make and keep covenants with God, we can have confidence that is born of the Spirit.” ([04:19])

3. The Climbing Analogy: Christ and Covenants as Rock and Anchors ([05:20])

• Life is likened to climbing a granite cliff:
  • Gravity: opposition/trials of mortal life.
  • Slips/falls: our sins and flawed efforts.
  • Anchors: covenants.
  • Rock: Jesus Christ himself.
• The path to God (the summit) requires directly engaging with Christ (the Rock) and actively anchoring oneself through covenants.
  • “Because the climber is clipped to anchors ... each slip is temporary, each attempt safe. ... The climber can be confident in the solid anchors...” ([06:45])
• Key insight: Failure and setbacks are part of the ascent; the process is redemptive, not punitive.

“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... Every fall is recoverable. Every step forward brings us closer to the summit.” ([08:00])

4. BYU Football, Disappointment, and a New Direction ([10:00])

• Rowe shares a personal setback—in-jury and the decision to leave football—prompted by spiritual impressions.
• Demonstrates uncertainty, but maintains connection to Christ and covenants, using them as his anchor.
• Encounter with Coach Lavelle Edwards: “He told me that he trusted me to make the right decision and that God may have something else for me to do.” ([12:35])

5. Russia: Testing & Strengthening Covenant Commitments ([14:50])

• Feeling led to study Russian, Rowe embarks on a summer in Leningrad:
  • Encounters invitations to violate his standards (alcohol, relationships, etc.).
  • Uses the phrase “Moya viera” (“my faith”) to politely but firmly refuse.
  • Remains true to his covenants even when isolated, alone, and misunderstood.
  • “But I knew I had stayed true to my covenants, anchored to the rock, and I felt peaceful.” ([17:55])
• Details spiritual struggle: loneliness, clinging to daily scripture study, prayer, and covenant remembrance.

6. Direct Divine Help, Sacrament, and Spiritual Resilience ([20:55])

• Longs for the sacrament but can’t find the local Church branch—then, after desperate prayer, stumbles upon LDS missionaries in a random bookstore:
  • “In a city of 5 million, stood two missionaries. I began attending church. Each week, the sacrament felt more sacred.” ([21:35])
• Describes deepening peace, confidence, and happiness from keeping covenants, even in adversity.
  • “Each small act of obedience to my covenants helped me to stay firmly anchored to Christ.” ([20:20])
• Contrasts his joy with the emptiness felt by his Russian host, Igor, noting that deeply rooted happiness comes from the covenant path, not worldly freedom.

“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.” ([23:40])

• Through Rowe’s example, Igor and friends attend church, and some are baptized.

7. How Paths Unfold and Unseen Blessings ([25:55])

• Because he followed spiritual promptings and stuck to his covenants, Rowe’s life took unexpected, blessed turns: love for Russia, humanitarian work, law school, international service, and, finally, a family after years of infertility.
  • “Had I not followed spiritual promptings and stepped away from football into the unknown ... I never would have gone to Russia.” ([26:35])

8. Restating the Main Message: Antidote to Fear ([27:45])

• The solution to life’s anxiety is not the absence of stumbling, but anchoring in Christ through covenants.
  • “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.” ([27:45])
• Invites students to exercise faith, keep moving, and not be paralyzed by uncertainty or setbacks.

9. The Necessity of Opposition and Adversity ([28:35])

• Cites President Oaks: opposition and the need to choose good are essential to growth.
  • “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 other mortal opposition.” ([28:50])

10. Concluding Invitation and Promise ([29:05])

• Testifies that knowing and following Christ through covenants brings “confidence born of the Spirit” and unique, divinely directed paths for each person.
  • “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.” ([29:05])
• Concludes with a testimony and loving encouragement to the student body.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On shallow worldly confidence:
  “If our confidence is based on what we believe others think of us... then our confidence will be shallow and fleeting.” ([03:40])

• On spiritual confidence:
  “When we make and keep covenants with God, we can have confidence that is born of the Spirit.” ([04:19])

• The climbing analogy, climbing with 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. ... Every fall is recoverable.” ([08:00])

• On loneliness and divine help:
  “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.” ([20:20])

• On contrasting happiness:
  “...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.” ([23:40])

• Direct Christ-centered invitation:
  “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.” ([27:45])

• Promise to listeners:
  “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.” ([29:05])

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 00:22 | Opening story, introduction to uncertainty | | 03:23 | Where do you find confidence? | | 05:20 | The climbing analogy: Christ and covenants | | 10:00 | Football setback and receiving new spiritual promptings| | 14:50 | Russia: commitment to faith and covenants tested | | 20:55 | Finding sacrament, spiritual comfort in Leningrad | | 23:40 | Host Igor’s revelation of emptiness vs. real joy | | 25:55 | How following the Spirit brought unexpected blessings | | 27:45 | Christ as the answer to fear and uncertainty | | 28:35 | The necessity of adversity and agency | | 29:05 | Closing invitation, testimony and promises |

Final Takeaway

Edward B. Rowe’s message is a compelling, personal witness that life’s plans seldom unfold as expected, yet as we steadfastly bind ourselves to Jesus Christ through covenant, He becomes our unshakeable Rock and source of deep, Spirit-born confidence. Even in uncertainty or adversity, it’s this anchored relationship which enables us to climb, recover from setbacks, and find unexpected direction, peace, and joy.