MAKING
AND KEEPING COVENANTS
*God wants all of His children to make it back to Him again
*Through making and keeping covenants, we progress as
individuals, as well as families, communities, etc.
*Everything God does for us is out of love
-The way we keep our covenants is a reflection
of our love for God
Brightly Beams Our
Father’s Mercy:
“Brightly beams our Father’s Mercy
From his lighthouse ever more
But to us he gives the keeping of
The lights along the shore
Let the lower lights be burning
Send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save
3. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother
Some poor sailor tempest tossed
Trying now to make the harbor in the darkness
may be lost.”
This hymn, penned by Philip Bliss, was inspired by a sermon
given by Dwight L.Moody about ships crossing into the Cleveland harbor. Bliss’s
line about the “Lower lights” refer to a system where two sets of lights at
opposite ends of the harbor worked in harmony to bring ships into the harbor
safely. These lights were called the upper and lower lights, and unless a ship
could see BOTH the lower and upper lights, they were unable to successfully
make it out of the storm and into the safety of the harbor. Moody then shared
an account of a ship attempting to make it out of a particularly vicious storm.
The pilot asked if the lower lights could be seen, but learned they had gone
out. Although the upper lights were visible, as they tried to navigate the
storm, they ended up crashing without the additional guidance of the lower
lights. It wasn’t enough to have just one set showing the way- they needed both
to make it out of the storm.
Similarly, in our own storms of life, we need two sets of light
to bring us back to God. Christ is the light of the world. Because of the
covenant He made with our Heavenly to be our savior and redeemer, he is the
upper light, there to direct us back to our Father in Heaven. Although with his
help we can do anything, it is not enough on it’s own. God wants all of his children
to have the opportunity to come back to him and navigate the storms of life. As
we follow Christ, the light of the world, and make and keep covenants with our
Heavenly Father, we are able to become the “lower lights” and assist in helping
God’s children make it back to Him.
Covenants are promises between us and God- and are an
opportunity to progress individually, and while doing so, help others along the
way. When we make the covenant of baptism, we promise to “mourn with those that
mourn, comfort those who stand in need of comfort, stand as a witness of Christ
at all times and in all things and in all places through consistently keeping the
commandments of our Father. In return, we promised by our Heavenly Father that
we will receive the presence of His spirit, which can guide, comfort, purify,
warn, protect, and help us progress on our journey.
In the temple, we make further covenants and prepare to more
fully live the gospel so we can be prepared to live with our Father in Heaven.
There are multiple
examples throughout the scriptures where ordinary, imperfect children of God
are able to progress on their journey and become the best version of themselves
through making and keeping covenants.
“I will be your light in the wilderness, and I will
prepare the way before you, it if so be that ye shall keep my commandments,
wherefore inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall be led towards
the promised land.” (1 Nephi 17:13)
The children of Israel are led out of Egypt to the promised
land, the brother of Jared and his people are led from the tower of Babel to
the Americas, and even those who came to establish zion when the gospel was
restored traveled the country and even the world to make it to the “promised
land.” These journeys symbolize starting out here in mortality as fallen and
imperfect beings, and through the making and keeping of covenants, being able
to reach the promised land, or in our case, the celestial kingdom.
One story in particular that stood out to me was Nephi’s family
traveling from Jerusalem to the promised land. Both he and his brothers started
out in the same exact place spiritually and physically, but by the end of his
account are on totally different ends of the spectrum. They experienced the
same circumstances- being uprooted from their family, friends, home, physical
possessions, starving in the wilderness, traveling for 8 years before crossing
the ocean, etc. But what was the difference between these brothers by the end
of the story?
Individual covenant keeping through keeping the
commandments.
Nephi prayed, read the scriptures, forgave his brothers, and
obeyed the spirit, and became an incredible person through his willingness to
make and keep covenants with His Heavenly Father.
Others wanted everything handed to them. Nephi was an imperfect
person, who felt anger, frustration, confusion, doubt, (2 Nephi 4) but he took it to God, and kept
his covenants as an individual, which allowed him, as well as his family to
progress. Nephi was a lower light to his family through his personal covenant
keeping- helped his father and mother humble themselves before God when they
lost sight of what was important, helped Sam gain his own testimony of the
gospel, was an example for his wife and children, etc.
I feel like I had a lot of different trials this last year, but
one of the most difficult and seemingly impossible to overcome definitely
taught me the importance of covenant keeping, and the love God has for each of
his children individually. Because of earlier traumatic events in my life, I
encountered a series of very intense panic attacks, depression, and social
anxiety last year. Without really realizing it, I spent many years running and suppressing
these issues, not even aware it was anything I needed to address. However when
I returned from my mission, much to my surprise, many events including interactions
with family, friends, work and other relationships triggered these traumatic
events to the point where I was unable to function in a healthy way. For a
time, I was filled with anger, fear, confusion, and doubt, questioning what I
did to deserve feeling this way, questioning why God was letting these
experiences and emotions rule my life when they had happened so long ago. I
felt broken beyond repair, convinced I would never be whole again and that the
rest of my life would be filled with this darkness, confusion, panic that
filled my life at the time.
During this time, I remember going to a missionary homecoming
for one of the sisters in my mission. I
almost didn’t go, afraid that one of my panic attacks would take over, but I
felt really strongly that I needed to be there. I remember it was the words of
Christ that she quoted that seemed to penetrate the darkness that was
surrounding me. They brought me comfort, like nothing else could. She then
spoke the words from “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy” and I remember feeling
the most overwhelming relief and peace in my heart. I knew God loved me,
despite how broken I felt. I knew that He knew what I was experiencing and was
aware that I felt as though I were a ship lost at sea, that every day felt like
I was drowning and gasping for air. I knew where to find the upper light, but I
didn’t know how to make it through this storm on my own. This sister’s pure
testimony provided a lower light for me. After that experience, I decided to ask
God for relief and help to make it through this experience through prayer, find
answers in the scriptures, and continue to feel the spirit of peace and comfort
as I attended church and renewed my covenants. Attending the temple was one of
the few ways I was able to find relief and peace from the otherwise foggy and
hectic swirl of emotions that ruled me on a daily basis.
I know it was through my willingness to keep my own covenants
with God, as well as the countless covenant keeping of friends, family, and
others around me that got me to where I am right now. One of the biggest things
I learned throughout this experience was that everything God does for us is out
of LOVE. That is His motivation behind everything!
Sister Linda Burton of the general relief society asked, “Why was the savior willing to keep his
covenant with the Father and fulfill his divine mission to atone for the sins
of the world? It was his love for his Father and His love for us. Why was the
Father willing to allow His only begotten and perfect Son to suffer pain beyond
description to bear the sins, heartaches, sicknesses, and infirmities of the
world and all that is unfair in this life?” IT ALL COMES DOWN TO LOVE.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that the
world through him might be saved.” (john 3 :16)
For God so loved [insert your name here] that He gave His Only
Begotten Son, that [your name] through him might be saved.”
Our willingness to live our covenants is a reflection of our
love for God
When all is said and done, when we see him again, he will simply
ask, “Did you love me?” (Elder Holland)
Reflect over the covenants you've made (or going to make)
How does the way you keep your covenants on a daily basis a
reflection of your love for God?
“Trim your feeble lamp, my brother
Some poor sailor tempest tossed
Trying now to make the harbor
In the darkness may be lost
Let the lower light be burning
Send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.”
There will be times in our lives where we are the ships at sea,
in need of the light that comes from those who are keeping their covenants
around us. And there will be other times where our covenant keeping will enable
us to be someone else’s lower light. I know that no matter how dark the storms
of life may get, we are not alone. God’s love will always be more powerful that
any darkness that could surround us, it has the ability to penetrate even the
darkest of experiences. As we make covenants with God and keep them with an
honest and loving heart, we will become the best version of ourselves, and help
others along the way.
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