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Covenants, Crocodiles, and You
From an address given to students at Ensign College in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, on October 13, 2020. Read the full text at ensign.edu.
Sister Sharon Eubank shares how to safely avoid the crocodiles lurking in life, and how to help others avoid them too.
Sometimes when I travel, people will give me something that is important to them. I was recently in someone’s home, and they gave me as a gift a wooden crocodile they had carved. It’s painted in a beautiful way. It has fingernails and white eyes and is made out of wood that’s been stained green.
I put it where I can see it every day. Let me tell you why I keep that crocodile. It reminds me of something that is meaningful to me, and I hope that it is also meaningful to you.
Facing Life’s Crocodiles
Some of you might know of the Mara River in Kenya. Many kinds of wildlife cross the river at certain times of the year to get to the sweet grasses on the other side.
But the river is also the home of 15-foot-long (5 m) Nile crocodiles. The crocodiles love the herd migration and are always on the lookout for their next meal.
Oftentimes, inexperienced animals such as antelope don’t feel that the crocodiles, with their low profile, pose any threat. They look out over the river and see an innocent-looking animal floating amid the plants, so they jump in and begin to cross the river. They don’t reckon how fast crocodiles can move and how strong their jaws are when they clamp on to something.
Sometimes we are the antelope and Satan is the crocodile. In our inexperience with crossing water, we see the crocs in the river, but we don’t recognize them as dangers. We ignore the crocodiles and wade right into the current.
And usually, a herd follows us in thinking that if we went in, it must be all right to go in too. Satan waits until everybody gets into deep water, and then he strikes.
Our Heavenly Father knows we are inexperienced and yet we will likely need to cross rivers, metaphorically speaking, in our lives. He doesn’t necessarily take the crocodiles out of our lives, but He does give us some help to get to the other bank of the river.
Today I want to talk about three of those helps from Heavenly Father.
Experienced Zebras and Wildebeests = The Scriptures
The first help He offers us are those who have successfully crossed the river before us. You’ll often see antelope herding along the banks with zebras and wildebeests. Zebras and wildebeests cross the river much more often than antelope do. If they could communicate with the antelope, they would have things to tell, but the antelope may not always be interested.
Where are the experiences of people who have successfully crossed the river written down? In the scriptures.
Well, you might say, that is true, Sister Eubank, but the scriptures don’t cover the things that are going on in my life.
Alma Was Almost Crocodile Food
Let me give an example about Alma the Younger. He spent his young adulthood doing the exact opposite of what his parents wanted him to do. He rebelled against God, he gave up following the commandments, and he bullied and he mocked good people. And then something happened one day. An angel appeared to him. In Alma’s words:
“I was racked with eternal torment. …
“Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God. …
“Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction” (Alma 36:12–14).
In essence, Alma jumped into the water as an ignorant antelope and then bullied other antelope who were hesitating to get in the water with him. And when they were all trapped in the current, the crocodiles encircled them and started closing in. Alma got caught. Powerful jaws clamped around him. There was no going back. He was crocodile food.
“And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, … I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy … concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
“Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me. …
“And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more” (Alma 36:17–19).
The lesson from these scriptures that applies to every modern problem you are facing is this: Jesus can snatch a wounded antelope out of the jaws of a crocodile and restore that antelope to health and safety again.
It’s impossible, you say. It isn’t logical or practical.
But it is true.
It happened in my own life. I have scars, but I am whole. This is the miracle of repentance and forgiveness. It’s what the gospel is all about. It happened to Alma, and it can happen to you. The Lord God will remember your sins no more, and you will be free. It is never too late for you if you call out for Jesus Christ to have mercy on you and give up your sins.
We all need to read stories of the metaphorical zebras and wildebeests and rescued antelope, and they are written for us in the scriptures. We need them because we make so many mistakes, and they point us to repentance and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
Boats = Covenants
The second help the Lord gives us in crossing the water is a boat. The boat lifts us out of the water, surrounded by a protective layer that keeps crocodiles out. Boats can have sails to catch the wind or motors to move them upstream, and rudders that make the steering much easier.
A couple of years ago, I took a small kayak out with a friend.
We wanted to cross the ocean where the lobster boats were fishing and visit a little island. We weren’t very experienced with boats, but we soon figured out that the pedals in the boat ran a small rudder. The rudder was a small fin in the back that steered the kayak in the direction we wanted.
We arrived at the island and had a great time exploring, and then it started getting choppy and we thought that we should get back to the mainland. So we got in and started back across that channel, but suddenly it was so hard to steer that boat.
It took me a while to realize I had forgotten to put the rudder back down after pulling up on the island. It showed me how important that small fin could be.
Our covenants are like boats. They surround us in a protective layer as we cross the river and keep us out of the choppy water and away from the crocodiles. When we work hard to keep our covenants of baptism and the temple, the Holy Ghost (just like that little fin in the back of the boat) can guide us, steer us, to calm waters.
But we have to remember the Holy Ghost and not forget to engage Him in our lives. Our navigation is terrible without His help.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
I beg you not to take your covenants for granted. They are much more powerful than we realize. You may think your promises are just a small rowboat, but it will eventually grow to an ocean liner that can rescue hundreds of other people.
As much as your covenants are about you, they are also very much about others.
The View above the River = Words of the Prophets
The third help is the view from above. From our vantage point on the bank of the river, it’s almost impossible to see the wily crocodiles hiding, but from above, they are easily visible.
Prophets can be like a small drone. The Lord shows them things from a different angle, and they tell us about the location and movement of crocodiles in our lives.
Amos 3:7 is as true in our day as it has been for thousands of years: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
At general conference, prophets share with us the view from above. One thing I heard from President Nelson at a previous general conference was that Israel is not called to be better than everyone else, not to be the only “chosen” people who can be saved, but instead they are called to be a flag, an ensign to other people to show them where Israel is being gathered.
All those who are willing to let God prevail in their lives are being gathered to meet their God.
Jesus calls all people to Him: “Come, follow me.” When you enter the waters of baptism, when you take the sacrament or receive your endowment in the temple, you take upon you the name of Jesus Christ. You can become His ensign.
Your job as the ensign is to:
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Point people to the experiences in the scriptures that can teach them what to do.
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Help them prepare for and build their own covenantal boats.
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Listen to the directions coming from the higher view.
This isn’t just about you. It’s about all the people you can help cross to safety.
I bear my personal witness that God knows you; He knows your name, and your fears, and also your hopes and strengths. I testify that you have a work to do. Rise up and be an ensign to the nations. May the Lord bless you as you try.