“The Blessing of Covenant Rest,” Liahona, Feb. 2025.
Covenant Women
The Blessing of Covenant Rest
We can find happiness and rest in the present by partnering with Jesus Christ and developing our covenant relationship with God, one day at a time.
Walking with Him, by Eva Timothy, may not be copied
In a Relief Society class I attended recently, a dear sister shared that the term “anxiously engaged” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27) makes her already anxious soul even more anxious. She is an incredible sister who is already doing much good and cares for so many.
Her feelings echo in the hearts of many good sisters who wonder if they are doing enough and if their offering is acceptable.
I don’t think that “anxiously engaged” means we add an insurmountable number of good works to our to-do list. Nor do I think it means we frantically go about trying to solve the world’s problems or even all the problems within our own spheres.
In the March 2024 worldwide Relief Society devotional, President Russell M. Nelson blessed us “with the wisdom to discern what is needful and not to run faster than [we] are able.”
As covenant women, we have the blessing of God’s priesthood power through honoring our covenants. His power can help us receive expanded capacity and wisdom to know “what is needful” and to not “run faster than [we] are able.”
The Lord invites us to go about His work in His way, which is different from the world’s way— different from the frenetic pace that often receives the praise of an overstimulated, overproductive, and exhausting world.
The Lord describes how the gathering of Israel is to be done: “Ye shall not go out with haste [or rashness], nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rearward” (Isaiah 52:12).
Not going out in haste teaches us that the Savior’s gospel is meant to bring peace, calmness to our hearts, even a covenantal rest that comes through keeping the higher laws of Jesus Christ. President Russell M. Nelson 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. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God. …
“… Despite the distractions and distortions that swirl around us, you can find true rest—meaning relief and peace—even amid your most vexing problems.”
I know that this special kind of rest comes when we don’t do this work alone. It comes as we purposefully partner with Jesus Christ and access His power through honoring our covenants.
Rest comes when we let Him take our burdens and when we choose to sincerely repent. Rest comes when we trust Him with our needs and concerns and when we choose a higher and holier perspective. Rest comes when we choose to judge each other less and love each other more.
Rest comes when we know that God knows us and loves us. Rest comes when we find joy in bringing the Savior’s relief to others and let others bring His relief to us. Rest comes when we remember and reflect upon the beautiful blessings God mercifully grants us each day.
Rest comes when we worship in the house of the Lord. President Nelson has invited us to make “the temple [our] place of refuge and recalibration”—a place where we find rest. We leave the Lord’s house armed with His power and perspective and with “angels round about [us], to bear [us] up” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).
The covenant rest we seek comes from Jesus Christ. He invites you and me:
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; … and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29; emphasis added).