By President Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women General President, speaking in the Sunday morning session of November 2023 general conference:
The One who was bruised and broken for us will allow mortality to do its work in us, but He doesn’t ask us to face those challenges alone.
I was introduced to a trail in Israel by my good friend Ilan. “It’s called the Jesus Trail,” he said, “because it’s the path from Nazareth to Capernaum that many believe Jesus walked.” I decided right then and there I wanted to walk that trail, so I began planning a trip to Israel.
Six weeks before the trip, I broke my ankle. My husband worried about the injury; my greatest concern was how I would walk the Jesus Trail one month later. I am stubborn by nature, so I didn’t cancel the plane tickets.
I remember meeting our Israeli guide that beautiful June morning. I hopped out of the van and then pulled out a set of crutches and a knee scooter. Mya, our guide, took one look at my cast and said, “Uh, I don’t think you can walk this trail in that condition.”
“Maybe not,” I replied. “But there’s nothing that prevents me from trying.” She gave a slight nod, and we began. I love her for that, for believing I could walk the trail broken.
I navigated the steep path and the boulders for a time on my own. Then, moved by the sincerity of my commitment, Mya pulled out a thin rope, tied it to the handlebars of my scooter, and began to pull. She pulled me up the hills, through lemon orchards, and along the banks of the Sea of Galilee. At the journey’s end, I expressed gratitude for my sweet guide, who had helped me accomplish something I could have never accomplished on my own.
When the Lord called Enoch to journey through the land and testify of Him, Enoch hesitated.1 He was just a lad, slow of speech. How could he walk that path in his condition? He was blinded by what was broken in him. The Lord’s answer to what hindered him was simple and immediate: “Walk with me.”2 Like Enoch, we must remember that the One who was bruised and broken for us3 will allow mortality to do its work in us, but He doesn’t ask us to face those challenges alone.4 No matter the heaviness of our story or the current course of our path, He will invite us to walk with Him.5
Think of the young man in a spot of trouble who met the Lord in a wilderness place. Jacob had journeyed far from home. In the dark of night, he had a dream that not only contained a ladder but also held significant covenant promises, including what I like to call the five-finger promise.6 On that night, the Lord stood beside Jacob, introduced Himself as the God of Jacob’s father, and then promised:
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I am with you.
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I will keep you safe.
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I will bring you home again.
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I will not leave you.
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I will keep my promise to you.7
Jacob had a choice to make. He could choose to live his life simply acquainted with the God of his father, or He could choose to live life in committed covenant relationship with Him. Years later, Jacob testified of a life lived within the Lord’s covenant promises: “God … answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”8 Just as He did for Jacob, the Lord will answer each of us in our day of distress if we choose to tether our life with His. He has promised to walk with us in the way.
We call this walking the covenant path—a path that begins with the covenant of baptism and leads to deeper covenants we make in the temple. Perhaps you hear those words and think of checkboxes. Maybe all you see is a path of requirements. A closer look reveals something more compelling. A covenant is not only about a contract, although that is important. It’s about a relationship. President Russell M. Nelson taught, “The covenant path is all about our relationship with God.”9
To read, listen to or watch Sister Freeman’s complete talk, click . . . . “Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ
