25. Making the Scriptures a Spiritual Highlight with Kristin Walker Smith
Have you ever felt like reading and studying the scriptures is just another item to add to your to-do list instead of feeling like the spiritual highlight of your day? Well, perhaps you can find yourself an "SOS scripture." This is a verse or set of verses from the scriptures that you can turn to whenever you might need a moment of peace or strength from the Lord. Perhaps it’s one you’ve memorized or stuck to your bathroom mirror.
“How scripture study feels is so much more important than how it looks.”— Kristin Walker Smith
These SOS scriptures are a perfect example of how to get a lot out of a little, and that’s what today's guest Kristen Walker Smith is doing. She has made it a personal mission of hers to make scripture study the spiritual highlight of her day, and she has been sharing that mission with others!
LINKS:
The Power of Scripture by Elder Richard G. Scott
Find Kristen's book here!
Want more from Kristen? Listen and watch her Seek course!
Having an "SOS scripture" can be helpful for us to have whenever we might need a moment of inspiration from the Lord, and it doesn't require reading an entire chapter to feel that spiritual nourishment!
Even taking one minute a day to reflect on the scriptures can bring you closer to the Lord and feel the promises of scripture study.
Opening up the scriptures is a way to receive personal revelation and learn how much God loves us.
It's worth it to make a habit of scripture study, even when we don't feel like we're getting anything out of it, because those moments of peace will surely come.
Small & Simple Challenge
As you study the scriptures, even just one verse, look for 1) the point of the passage, 2) how you can make it personal, and then 3) add power to the verse by taking action on it.
Transcript +
Kathryn Davis 00:00 Have you ever felt like reading and studying the scriptures is just another item to add to your to do list instead of feeling like it is the spiritual highlight of your day? Hi, and welcome to magnify an LDS Living podcast where we cheer, inspire and embolden each other as women and followers of Jesus Christ. We hope to use our influence to make a difference in the world. I'm your host, Kathryn Davis, a mom, a seminary teacher, and a grilling enthusiast who loves God. Do you have an SOS scripture? This is a verse or set of verses from the scriptures that you can turn to whenever you might need a moment of peace or strength from the Lord. Perhaps it's one you've memorized or you stick to your bathroom mirror. So many of you shared your SOS scripture with us on Instagram. And here's what you had to say. Elle said, Whenever I feel anxious or lost or like I need some clarity, I go to a chapter I already know I love. Psalm 23 Is my SOS Scripture. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. It's such beautiful imagery and provides the solace I need in those moments. That's what SOS scriptures are for. They give you relief when you need it most a reliable reassurance that everything is okay, even when it isn't. Elle, I love the book of Psalms. It's actually one of my favorites. I remember once we were challenged to recite a psalm before we prayed because that's what psalms are is their prayers. And I love that that's where you go when you need comfort and strength is to a prayer. Tamara said, an SOS scripture for me that helps me to know I'm never alone is Doctrine and Covenants section 84 Verse 88, it reads and who so receiveth you there I will be also for I will go before your face, I will be on your right hand and on your left. And My spirit shall be in your hearts and my angels around about you to bear you up and Tamara that scripture right there is a scripture that my dad gave me as I headed out on my mission. And I know every day of my mission, I relied on that, to have faith and understand that God is with me and that he will be on my right hand and on my left. And I count and bank on that promise as a mom, that God is with my kids every day. Sarah said, I like the idea that it's an SOS Scripture because the scriptures feel like they literally do save me. One verse that always comes to mind is Joshua 1:9, have I not commanded thee be strong and have a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever they'll go us. I've made it the background on my phone screen. You guys, I love hearing your SOS scriptures. I love those insights. And I want to hear more of your SOS scriptures. So please keep sending them. These SOS scriptures are a perfect example of how to get a lot out of a very little verse. And that's what our guest Kristen Walker Smith is doing. She has made it a personal mission of hers to make scripture study the highlight of her day, and she has been sharing that mission with others. Knowing that families don't always have a lot of time to spend in the scriptures together, She created what she calls one minute scripture study to quickly get into the scriptures. Kristen, we are so excited to have you here with us today.
Kristen Walker Smith 03:31 Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
Kathryn Davis 03:34 Before we begin, we have made it a tradition on magnify to ask a series of rapid fire questions so our guests can get to know you a little bit better.
Kristen Walker Smith 03:43 Oh no. Okay.
Kathryn Davis 03:44 Are you nervous?
Kristen Walker Smith 03:45 I am scared. I didn't know this was coming.
Kathryn Davis 03:47 They're easy. We're gonna love Okay,
Kristen Walker Smith 03:49 so hey, no math.
Kathryn Davis 03:53 No math because I would fail. Couldn't even ask a good math question. So you won't be having to answer anything that way. You know, this first one is actually kind of fun. I have seen that you love dad jokes. And I want to know what is your favorite go to dad like or mom joke. Oh.
Kristen Walker Smith 04:12 Oh, prepare. Prepare yourself. Okay, like this is so good. What do you get when you combine a cat and a fish? What do you think?
Kathryn Davis 04:23 A catfish?
Kristen Walker Smith 04:25 No, you get a purr-ahnna no no. (Laughs)
Kathryn Davis 04:39 My favorite thing is how you crack yourself up.
Kristen Walker Smith 04:43 My kids get so annoyed because I think I'm so funny.
Kathryn Davis 04:51 If ever I need a little quick pick me up. I'm gonna call you for a dad joke. Because I just have to hear you laugh. I'm sorry, I'm still laughing at
Kristen Walker Smith 05:04 myself. I'm so funny. These jokes are amazing. Kathryn.
Kathryn Davis 05:09 I think it's important to realize we should find ourselves funny. Even if nobody laugh at yourself. Right? I agree. Okay, so you live in Idaho? I do. And I know you like to hike. I do. Are you doing any big hikes this spring or summer that you're excited about?
Kristen Walker Smith 05:31 Yes, I am going to be doing a backpacking trip to de Nanda falls and Yellowstone it the first time I did it, if anybody works for Yellowstone, stop listening right now, because you'll be legally required to report me. But we thought we'd be really smart and take like a back route that nobody knew. And we would cut off all this time. And so we did that this last spring, and it ended up being a nightmare. It was like the worst hike ever. So this time, we are taking the trail and I'm so excited to not like be stuck in a boggy Marsh for eight hours of hiking. So yeah, I got that plan for the summer.
Kathryn Davis 06:06 Who's we? who's going on that with you?
Kristen Walker Smith 06:09 My husband, and then my brother and sister in law live close by so they'll come and then my best friend and her husband so fun.
Kathryn Davis 06:16 Yeah, that is fun. Okay, I know you've heard some of the SOS scriptures that people have shared and I want to know what is yours?
Kristen Walker Smith 06:26 I have so many. So many. Can I tell you one and I don't even know reference for it. Is that aloud? Yes. I haven't memorized because it's short and super easy. But I love this scripture. It's from when Nephi is on the boat with his stupid brothers. And they've tied him up and there's a huge storm and everyone's gonna die. And they're all like, oh my gosh, we're gonna die. And so they finally untie Nephi and the Nephi he says that he prayed. And then he says and after I prayed, the winds did cease and the storm did cease and there was a great calm. And I love that scripture because it reminds me that prayer can calm our storms. But it also reminds me that like guess who was still in the boat with Nephi? Laman and Lemuel were still there. Like Heavenly Father didn't make them fall overboard, which would have solved all of Nephi his problems right? So I just love that scripture because it reminds me everything doesn't have to be perfect and Jesus can still be there calming my storms.
Kathryn Davis 07:21 I love that scripture. Actually, mine is a little similar. Oh, really the same thought I think behind it. And that's hard for me because you know, I usually have a new favorite scripture every week depending on what I'm saying. I have a new favorite. Yep. But this one this one has stuck with me a lot and for a long time and it was actually a found a number of years ago when elder Rasband challenged all the youth to find it protection scripture. Oh no protection scriptures which I love that thought. One that you can go back and recall and it can be an SOS or it can serve as a protection for you. Mine is actually in doctrine and covenants, Section six, verse 34. Okay, it says, therefore fear not little flock do good. Let earth and hell combine against you For if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. And even as you were talking about the winds in the storm, I just love that imagery of that Christ no matter what if we are built upon him, Yeah, that nothing can prevail. And that first line right there fear not little flock that image to me of Christ as my Shepherd and telling me not to fear. I think whenever I feel so much anxiety or worry or stress, that phrase always comes back to me fear not little flock, and I love it. It brings me solace on my heart days. I think that's the power of the scriptures, right is that we can all find something in the scriptures that speaks to our soul and speaks to what we're going through at that moment. And you are on a mission to make scripture study the spiritual highlight of your day. Yeah. So I want to know what you mean by that.
Kristen Walker Smith 09:07 Well, I think that growing up and I don't know, you probably didn't have this experience. I am like, not very righteous, apparently, or I wasn't because growing up I did not like scripture study. I was like this to do list item. It's not fun. And that's just how I treated it. And then I went to college, and I had this amazing Book of Mormon teacher and I began to love the scriptures, but I was also spending at least an hour a day studying them. And it felt like such a spiritual high because I would just dive into them. And it seemed like there was no in between. For me it was like either I'm in them for an hour and I love them or I'm just not in them at all. And I'm like, How can I get that feeling that one hour deep dive feeling when I have diapers to change and dirty laundry to clean and a kid just barfed on me and like all of these things are happening. How do I get that same feeling? And so the point of it is you can still access the Spirit, you can connect with God, there's not a set time that you have to reach in your scripture study before you can start feeling the spirit. And so I just kind of went on a mission to figure out especially because my kids have like ADHD, and they cannot pay attention to the scriptures for very long. I went on a mission to see like, can we connect with God in one minute?
Kathryn Davis 10:19 Well, that's what I want to ask you about, right? Because I think sometimes we have a tendency to overthink our scripture study. Yeah. And with your platform being one minute scripture study, I want to know a little bit more of what that looks like for you. How are you able to approach a one minute study idea?
Kristen Walker Smith 10:38 I do want to say this, before I say anything else. I think that it is important to invest time in the scriptures. I don't think you can become a scripture scholar, if all you ever do is one minute. But I do recognize there are seasons and even just days where it's it's one minute or nothing. And the Lord understands that. So this is what it looks like. One of the big things is when you open the Scriptures, and I just opened my scriptures, and it's Isaiah that I open to what the heck do I have in common with Isaiah? And this is where most people I think stop is because there is this huge gap. It's like me, Isaiah, nope, nothing in common. But what we need to do is build a bridge and that bridge is principles, right? We have to find the principle that connects us to the past. Let's take a scripture Do you want to just say a scripture that you can think of? Or should we take someone's SOS scripture? Yeah, why don't we do that? That would be super fun.
Kathryn Davis 11:30 Let's go to Joshua 1:9.
Kristen Walker Smith 11:32 I love me some Joshua, that guy is awesome. All right. So we are in Joshua and Joshua lived literally 1000s of years ago, you do not have much in common with Joshua, except that you both love Jesus. Right? So let's go to Joshua 1:9 and see if we can I study this and make it change our lives in one minute.
Kathryn Davis 11:51 Okay, Joshua, one nine, have not I commanded thee be strong and have a good courage. Be not afraid? neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with the withersoever thou goest.
Kristen Walker Smith 12:03 Okay, awesome. So Joshua was facing a huge crisis where he's got to help the children of Israel, Moses is gone. Now all of a sudden, these millions of people, it's Joshua's problem, and he's got to get him into this promised land. That has nothing to do with you. But this scripture does. So let's talk about it. What we're going to do is what I call the sword method, but I want you to do this, too, Kathryn, is we're going to pretend that we are holding a sword. And this is great with kids, by the way, if you've got kids, do this with them. So we're gonna pretend we're holding a sword and the sword is pointing straight up at the sky. And after we read our scripture, which today was Joshua 1:9, we are going to look at the point of that sword. And we're going to ask ourselves, what was the point of that? Why was that included in the scriptures? So what would you say Kathryn? What, what is the point of including this in the scriptures? If this message was for Joshua, why do we need it?
Kathryn Davis 12:52 Because it's teaching us that God is going to be with us, wherever we are, that he meets us where we are.
Kristen Walker Smith 12:57 Okay. Yes. So this applies to Joshua. And this is the bridge part, right? This is us finding the principle. But the easier way to ask it is what's the point. And the point is, God will be with us, even when life is incredibly hard, God will be with us. Okay, that's the point. Now, we're going to look at our hands holding the sword. And we're going to make it personal. So our first P was point. Now our second P is personal. So what does this have to do with me personally? So, I could look at that and say, well, that means that I need to trust God, that when life is really hard, and it kind of seems unfair, because I've got so much to do, and I'm so overwhelmed. I need to trust that God is there. Would you have a different personal take away from that, Kathryn? That's mine. But what would you think? How would you make that personal?
Kathryn Davis 13:40 For me the phrase be of good courage. Because even when it's hard, even when I'm feeling overwhelmed, even when I'm feeling really burdened. Can I see the good? Can I be good? And that, to me is like because sometimes I get overwhelmed with everything. And then it changes my attitude. But he's just saying, be of good courage, like, have faith, be happy. See the good that for me is my personal takeaway.
Kristen Walker Smith 14:13 Okay. I love that. I love that. And we totally got different ones. So this is perfect. I want everyone to realize your point might be different than mine. Your personal thing might be different. And it's, it's fine. It's what you are feeling. So now is the last part. And this is my favorite. Because I think sometimes we study the scriptures and we get it. We're like, that was good, right? But we are told that we need to be doers of the word, right? Not just hearers only so we did the point, we found out what it has to do with us personally. And now we are going to swing the sword and add power by taking action on what we just learned. And here's an important part of this. It has to take five minutes or less. We cannot make huge goals every single day. So we have to do a mini goal. So based on what I just read and learned what is an action I could take well, I could think I'm having a really big trial in my life right now. And I'm not Seeing God in it. So maybe my power, my action I'm going to take is, I'm going to say a prayer and ask God to help me be of good courage during this. Okay? Or what do you think?
Kathryn Davis 15:10 For me, I'd be more specific when I pray like, help me see something good today.
Kristen Walker Smith 15:15 Okay, perfect. So then your goal could be in my prayer tonight, I am just going to be specific and ask God that question, right? So this is a way that if we took out all of my jibber jabbering and my teaching, that was one minute of scripture study, but we found the point. So we found the principle, right, we figured out how it applies to me, right? We're likening it by seeing how it's personal. And then we are doers of the word by adding that power by swinging the sword, one minute, and it's totally powerful. And it's a lot better than the times when I would just scan the scriptures, read a chapter and then move on, right? Because this changes your life.
Kathryn Davis 15:50 So do you do this every day? Do you randomly pick a scripture, I want to know about your process?
Kristen Walker Smith 15:55 My study is very specific, because I do a podcast and I write a book. And I'm planning for the Book of Mormon next year, like I have, my personal study is very in depth, but I have kids who have no attention span. And so I actually, every week, I come up with this list for my followers on Instagram of like the seven scriptures not to miss or whatever. And so we'll read the scriptures, you know, one a day, and we apply it to ourselves and the kids figure out, okay, what action do I need to take. And sometimes if it's been a really bad day, and I'm super cranky, and I'm like, I do not want to see any of you anymore. I don't know if anybody else gets like, I love my family. But I'm like, I don't want to be around you. We will all stand at the bottom of the stairs, sing a hymn, apply it, do the sword method with it. And then I'm like, Okay, peace out good night. So we just do it with whatever feels right that day. But a lot of times, it's just a single verse.
Kathryn Davis 16:46 So by doing this method, do you think this has definitely become a spiritual highlight in your day?
Kristen Walker Smith 16:52 Okay, so here's the thing with my kids, I was doing scripture study the way that I thought I was supposed to do it. The way I was raised was everybody reads three verses. And you go along around the table until everyone's done, and then you close the Scripture, say a prayer. And you're done. Right. And I got really good at my threes multiplication, I can tell you that I knew exactly what verse was mine, and would zone out until it got to me and I knew exactly where to start reading. And I was trying that with my kids. And it wasn't working. They were like, zoned out. I could tell they were zoned out. They did not want to do scripture study time. They moaned and groaned about it. I found myself like bickering about it. Is it a spiritual highlight with my kids? It is the spiritual highlight with my kids. It's hard to have spiritual Moments with your kids. But these are the times where they actually talk to me about the gospel. These are the times where they will actually make a goal and follow through it because it's small enough. So it's, it's different from my personal spiritual highlights. But as a family, absolutely. It's not quite as high as a personal connection with God. I've got to say that because whenever kids are involved, you're gonna get potty humor and Minecraft discussions, right? So it's different, but it's definitely better. It's like they're getting the scriptures and they know how to connect with God in them.
Kathryn Davis 18:03 As you've done this. Have you been able to see how you've grown closer to the Lord, as you've given time in the scriptures? Whether that's maybe a day you have more than a minute, have you been able to grow closer to the Lord?
Kristen Walker Smith 18:16 So I actually think about this a lot, because I spend so much time talking about like, hey, read the scriptures. Let's do come follow me. And I'm like, do I need to be doing this online every single day? And I just think about it. And I think for everyone who's listening, if you ponder on and you think back to your greatest spiritual highs, like the times in your life when you felt on fire, and then you think about your greatest spiritual lows. For me, scripture study directly correlates and it's a lot of different things. It's like am I praying very hard, like how was my my temple worship, all that stuff, but scripture study is a huge part of that. And it's that daily restoration, right that Elder Uchtdorf talked about, we have to connect with God every single day. And so I have found Jesus and my Heavenly Father in the scriptures. When I am alone, I struggle with mental health issues. And so when I am alone, or when I feel like no one understands or when I feel hopeless, that happens sometimes. And I just desperately want my father to talk to me. I open the Scriptures, And He does. I don't have to wait for new revelation. There's revelation just waiting there. And I have gotten some of my greatest answers from the scriptures. I don't have to ask God, oh, how do you feel about me? I go to the Scriptures. And I find out I know exactly how he feels about me. It's written all over there, right? Or if I am afraid, what am I supposed to do? Heavenly Father, I don't have to ask that question because it's already in the Scriptures. And so I think my relationship with my Heavenly Father in Jesus is scripturally based because that's where they talk to me all the time. Like, they're my best friends and they're in the Scriptures. And so I love that.
Kathryn Davis 19:55 So what would you say to somebody who honestly you mentioned that before that you used to view scripture steady is like a check on your list of things to accomplish. Yeah. And what would you say to somebody who feels like scripture study is just another checkmark, and that it's maybe not their spiritual highlight of the day? Even if they get that checkmark done that it doesn't feel like they are receiving answers from Heavenly Father.
Kristen Walker Smith 20:19 Yeah, I mean, first of all, I would applaud you for doing it. Even if it doesn't feel amazing. That was me with the temple for years, I would go to the temple because check I was supposed to, and it took years of going to finally figure it out, right. So establishing a habit is a wonderful thing to do. So kudos to you. But I would also say that how it feels is so much more important than how it looks. And so find what works for you. Your grandma's scripture study probably will not be what works for you. If what you have to do is take one verse, ponder on it and go for a walk and think about that verse and pray about it. Awesome. That's your scripture study, if your scripture study is you have a verse laminated in your shower. And since you're kind of bored, and you have nothing else to do you just look at that do that, right. But I think we get so caught up in Oh, I have to study every single verse in this Come follow me for the weekend. And it's all about getting it done, done, done, done, done. Nope, just stop, like, stop at one verse, if that's what you can do. And remember to focus on how it feels, instead of how it looks so much.
Kathryn Davis 21:21 I agree. But I think a lot of us might get in the Scriptures. And we don't feel like it's a spiritual highlight. I think sometimes it's because we're trying to do a certain amount of time or a certain block to check that box rather than just trying to connect with our Heavenly Father with whatever that looks like for the day. And there's connection in there. And I think sometimes it's the habit, it might not be every day where I feel that connection. But I do feel it. And so I will continue doing it knowing that I have in the past and having faith and hope that I will in the future.
Kristen Walker Smith 21:57 I love that. And I do think that is important to remember because I did have a period of time when my mental health was so unstable, that I couldn't really feel the spirit. And so I would read the scriptures because I was bored. It's like I had no friends. And so I would read the scriptures. And I wasn't really feeling much as I read them, but it would come in little bursts. And so I couldn't tell you back then I will feel the spirit every time I read the scriptures, it might be months between. But it was worth it for those times when I did feel like because it really mattered that I felt it. And so yeah, I think maybe don't put as much pressure on yourself to feel the Spirit and be amazed every single time. Maybe you are going to feel the spirit every couple of months that you read the scriptures, or maybe it'll be once a week, whatever it is, but it's worth it to invest that time for those moments when the Spirit does come because man are those moments powerful.
Kathryn Davis 22:51 And I think that's so important. And I think that's why remember is one of the most important words in the scriptures is remember those moments you've had. And I think it's the remembering that helps us continue over that bridge even those times where we're not feeling it. Yes, absolutely. And I know one thing that's been really helpful for me and obviously is for you to is when I gain an insight or something strikes me in the scriptures is it's important for me to share that. I find a lot of peace and assurance when I share it like I am growing when I share what I've studied. And I just want to ask you how has sharing and engaging in Scriptures with others increase your faith?
Kristen Walker Smith 23:37 It's it's actually very interesting. I am an annoying, like I literally make New Year's resolutions to comment less in Sunday school and bear my testimony less because I can't stop myself. Like I've read the scriptures and I just want so badly to share. But I love other Boyd K packer, he said that a testimony is found in the bearing of it right. And I think a testimony of the scriptures is found in the sharing of it, that every time I share a scripture, my testimony of it and my knowledge of that scripture grows 10 fold and I don't know what other people are getting out of it. But man, when I get out of it, I'm like, Whoa, I'm on spiritual fire. Right. So I think there is so much power in the sharing that that's where your testimony of that scripture is solidified. So share away.
Kathryn Davis 24:25 So you obviously share on a bigger platform and I get to share in a classroom every day. Yeah. So how can somebody who maybe doesn't have a platform or isn't a teacher? How can they still share in a way that feels more natural?
Kristen Walker Smith 24:43 I would start with your family. What if your family scripture study started with you sharing what you learned in your personal study, bear your testimony to your own children. I don't think there's any more important place where you could bear your testimony, but also like my mom will text sometimes scripture. So start with your immediate family. And then start with texting like your bestie, or your mom or whomever.
Kathryn Davis 25:03 I think we need to get over that I don't have anything to share, because sometimes it's a little insecurity and self doubt. But I have seen prayers answered because somebody has reached out and shared a thought or a scripture and it happens every single day. In my seminary classes, I hear teenagers, say all the time, so and so said this or shared this, and we have to stop doubting that we can not only strengthen our testimony, but that we can strengthen others through the sharing. One thing, elder Richard G. Scott said in October 2011 General Conference, he said this about studying the scriptures, which I think is such a powerful reason why we need to get in there, even if it's a minute, a day. But he said, "pondering a passage of scripture can be a key to unlock revelation, and the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope and a restoration of confidence in one's ability to overcome the challenges of life. They have potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior." So as you've made time for the scriptures, even a minute a day, how have you seen some of those blessings in your life?
Kristen Walker Smith 26:21 Can we go to the scriptures together? Yes, please. Okay, so this is in second Corinthians 12. I've alluded to this. I've told this on other podcasts. So I have obsessive compulsive disorder, which now is much better. But there was a seven year period in which I was basically broken. I lost all of my friends, all of my hobbies, I became homebound. Like I washed my hands all day long. My hands were like red and raw and bleeding all the time. It was a very, very, very dark time. And I hated my life. I was so miserable that like, you know, every morning when I woke up, I was sad to be awake. I just I didn't want to do it anymore. I mentioned on here that that was a time when I read the scriptures a lot. I wasn't really feeling the spirit when I read them, but I had nothing else to do. And so I was studying them. This was also a time when I was seeking Jesus like crazy. Because as I said, I had no other friends and I had no peace. And so I was seeking out Jesus and Heavenly Father like I never had before. And then as I was reading the scriptures, I came across this in second Corinthians chapter 12. And it's Paul talking about how we had this trial. And it was bad enough that he had made three very specific requests to the Lord. I don't think these were times where he's like blessing his food and like, Oh, and please bless my thorn in the flesh to go away. I think these were three probably very potent, specific times when he requested the Lord to take away this thorn in the flesh. And then he says, And he said unto me, so this is Jesus talking to Paul, Jesus says, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And then Paul says, Most gladly, therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities and persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong. And I can't read those verses without crying because I remember where I was standing in my house, reading my scriptures at that point, and I realized, oh, Jesus is so strong in my life right now. And it's because I'm so incredibly weak. And it was about five years into my battle with OCD, and my life was trash. I'm trying to use a nice word for it. My life was trash. But I realized in that moment, as I read Paul's words, I thought to myself, and this was the first time I'd ever thought this, I thought, if this is what it takes to know, Jesus, I will do it for the rest of my life. And that was a moment of such peace, where finally, my life wasn't about how do I get rid of this, my life is the worst, I just want to be done. And it was about what does Jesus want? And I'll do that. And so I think that we don't know when the scriptures are going to hit us. We don't know when we're going to need them. I hadn't felt much from the scriptures in the year prior to reading this. But that day because I had a habit of being in the scriptures, Christ was able to speak to me directly through that message to Paul. And so yes, there's so much peace in the scriptures, even if you don't feel it every day. There's peace coming from the scriptures. So keep on reading them.
Kathryn Davis 29:31 Such a powerful example of even how he explained it. Scriptures can call them an agitated soul, when we might be not expecting it. And in those moments, that is where I have found Jesus Christ is in the scriptures. I love how you have said that that your relationship with him is strengthened because you're in the scriptures, and you're in there daily, and it's that daily intake of scriptures that can strengthen a relationship. It's, it's where we come to know Him is when we're in there every day. So Kristen, each episode, we like to end with a small and simple invitation something that we can take and implement into our week. So what is your small and simple challenge for how we can make scripture study the actual highlight of our day?
Kristen Walker Smith 30:23 Okay, I'm going to give you a challenge everyone, you're going to have to remember that sword method, but my challenge is to try it at least once. Try to find the point, try to find out how it's personal and try to add power by taking action on it. And remember that action is something that takes five minutes or less, because I think it's important to realize that scripture study doesn't have to be hours a day, you can connect with Jesus in one minute.
Kathryn Davis 30:47 And I would love to hear what people discover, as they do that one minute minute challenge, that sword challenge. Find out how they're making the scriptures personal in their lives, because when we do, we will come to know Him. That's the promise. Thank you so much for being here.
Kristen Walker Smith 31:05 Thank you for having me. My goodness, this was a blast.
Kathryn Davis 31:08 I loved having Kristen here and having this conversation because I think it's so important to really understand that how scripture study feels is so much more important than how it looks. So don't just try and check that box. But really try and concentrate and focus on how it feels. Thanks for being here and hop on over to Instagram at magnify community for more inspiration and conversation. And of course, subscribe and listen to the Magnify podcast wherever you get your shows. Let's meet up again next week.