Personal Scripture Study

It's been a really long time since I've posted anything on here. So, I really try to read in the scriptures every night. The leaders of the church encourage members to hold personal and family scripture study every day. After all, God's word was recorded and preserved for a purpose, and that is so that we (His children) could have it and learn from it. Scripture study is really one of those things that you can always do better with. My husband and I have been pretty consistent lately, reading pretty much every night. We read at night because it's easier for us not to forget when it's just a part of our bedtime routine. I think I've mentioned before that we've been reading in the Old Testament this year, and that's been good. We could be better at actually studying as opposed to just reading. Like I said, there are always ways to be improving your scripture study. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

Anyway, my husband's been out of town this weekend, so I've been reading in the Book of Mormon the last couple of nights. We'll pick back up with the Old Testament when he gets home. I was just kind of flipping it open to choose where to read, but there were a couple verses that stood out to me while I was reading.

I read Alma chapter 26. It is an account of a missionary named Ammon who is talking to his missionary buddies and they are praising the Lord because of the great success they have had in preaching the gospel. So, the two verses that stood out to me are actually in that context, but the beautiful thing about studying the scriptures is that sometimes the words stand out to you in ways that are unique to you and your situation. The way they stand out to you doesn't have to fit into the storyline that they are told in, because in that moment, God is speaking directly to you through this scripture. That's one of the small miracles that we can experience through scripture study. I have had scriptures speak to my heart in very specific ways, and when I go back and read the same verse again, I realize that the words didn't necessarily match the message that I was given.

Verse 12 and 16 stood out to me while I was reading. They say:

12. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

16. Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

The last couple of weeks have been this really interesting combination of feeling so small and incapable at times, but also feeling so incredibly blessed. I can see the miracles growing in my life, including some that I am playing an important role in. At a particularly challenging point last week I knew, as Ammon put it, "that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak." I was forgetting to turn to God "for in his strength I can do all things." Verse 16 stood out to me as I contemplated the blessings that I have in my life right now.

I started this blog as an attempt to share some of the things I believe. It's an effort to show others what really makes me happy, and to invite them to see if it makes them happy, too. It's funny because I feel such strong emotions and convictions about this Gospel, but I sit down to try to write it, and I struggle. I don't even know if these posts make sense by the time I'm done with them, and it takes me so long to try to put my feelings into words. Ammon says it all at the end of verse 16. "Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."