The Divine Worth Podcast

Have you ever felt like God was far away? Like your prayers were hitting the ceiling, or you were doing all the right things and still feeling that gap?

In this week’s Come Follow Me episode, we dive into Isaiah 58–65 and discover a powerful truth: God hasn’t moved. His hand is not shortened that it cannot save. And in Isaiah 58, the Lord gives us two tools for closing that distance, along with a beautiful promise: “Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:✨ Why we sometimes feel distant from God, and why that distance never means we are less loved✨ How to fast with a purpose (and why fasting for your own ability to feel the Lord isn’t selfish)✨ What it means to “call the Sabbath a delight” and use it to recharge spiritually✨ How the Savior gives “beauty for ashes” and binds up the brokenhearted✨ A simple visualization exercise to notice where the Savior is in relation to you and identify your one step toward Him

Whether you’re struggling through a season of spiritual distance or simply want to draw closer to your Heavenly Father, this episode will remind you that He is in relentless pursuit of you, and that you are of infinite worth.

📖 Scriptures & Resources Mentioned

* Isaiah 59:1–2: The Lord’s hand is not shortened

* Isaiah 65:1–2: “Behold me, behold me”

* Isaiah 62:1, 12: “I will not rest” / “A city not forsaken”

* Isaiah 58:2–14: True fasting, the repairer of the breach, and the Sabbath a delight

* Isaiah 61:1–3, 10–11: Beauty for ashes, garments of salvation

* Isaiah 63:9: “In all their affliction he was afflicted”

* Isaiah 64:8: “We are the clay, and thou our potter”

* Proverbs 3:5–6: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart

* Elder Patrick Kearon, “God’s Intent Is to Bring You Home” (April 2024 General Conference): God’s relentless pursuit of us

* Come Follow Me Old Testament 2026: Isaiah 58–65

🌿 Divine Worth Summit 2026: Made WholeJoin us Monday, October 19 through Friday, October 23 as incredible women teach you how to close the gaps in your mind, body, spirit, and relationships. Free to register, with an Access Pass available for live sessions and workshops.👉 Register: https://karenpapincoaching.thrivecart.com/summit26

🎧 Listen to the Divine Worth Podcast on Substack: https://karenpapin.substack.com/listen/divine-worth-podcast

Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast, where we let go of fear, self-doubt, and limiting beliefs to recognize who God sees in us. I’m your host, Life Coach Karen Papin, a fear-to-faith strategist helping women embrace their divine worth.

📝 Want to go deeper with this episode?Paid subscribers on Substack receive a companion journaling page for every episode, with reflection prompts to help you discover what’s standing between you and the Lord and take your one step toward Him this week. Become a paid subscriber and get this week’s “Repairer of the Breach” journaling page today.

This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

#ComeFollowMe #LDS #ComeFollowMe2026 #OldTestament #Isaiah #Isaiah58 #RepairerOfTheBreach #DivineWorth #LatterDaySaint #FastSunday #SabbathDay #LDSWomen #ScriptureStudy #ChurchOfJesusChrist

Episode Transcript

When God Feels Far Away

Have you ever felt like God was far away? Or like you just keep praying and praying, and yet you feel like those prayers are not getting through, like you’re hitting the ceiling with those prayers? Or maybe you feel like you’re doing all the right things, and yet you’re still feeling that gap.

Something that has helped me in those times is recognizing and understanding that God is still there. He’s not actually the one that has moved. And yet sometimes we still feel that distance. The great news about recognizing that God is still there is that it gives us hope that we can close that gap.

In Isaiah 58, the Lord gives us two tools for being able to close that gap. And He makes a promise to those who use these two tools. He says they will be called the repairer of the breach. Today we’re talking about how to become the repairer of that breach and to close that gap. So with that, let’s dive in.

Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast, where we are letting go of our fears and our self-doubt and other limiting beliefs to be able to recognize and understand who God sees in us. I am your host, Life Coach Karen Papin, and together we are diving into Isaiah chapters 58 through 65. These scriptures really can help us to understand that God is still there, even in those difficult times, even when we feel that distance, and that there are some things that we can do to be able to bridge that gap that we are feeling.

The Lord’s Hand Is Not Shortened

Let’s start with Isaiah chapter 59, verses 1 through 2. It says:

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

Sometimes we might read that scripture and think, “God’s distancing me because of my sins.” But there’s actually a great hope in that scripture, in that the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save. That means He is still reaching out to us. He can still help us if we turn to Him.

Sometimes that distance feels very strong. Sometimes it is our own mistakes and transgressions and sins that are keeping us from being able to recognize that the Lord is there, and that we can turn to Him and overcome, and that He’s still hearing us. And at other times, it is the struggles that we are facing, where our emotions and our thoughts are actually what are keeping us in the dark and creating that distance between us and the Lord.

One thing to remember in all of this is that even as we are doing all of the things, it’s still on the Lord’s timing. That doesn’t mean that He’s not there. It doesn’t mean that He’s not helping us. Sometimes we just don’t see it. And other times there’s a waiting period that we need to go through to help us grow stronger.

“Behold Me, Behold Me”

In Isaiah chapter 65, the Lord says:

“I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.”

There’s that thought piece again. But at the same time, it’s still showing that the Lord is there. He’s still reaching out to us, whether or not we are seeking Him.

One thing to remember is that we are still of worth to Him. He’s still reaching out to us. We are the ones who are walking after our own thoughts and who are drifting. And yet that distance does not mean that we are any less loved. He still loves us, and He still sees our worth.

God’s Relentless Pursuit of Us

That’s why I love Isaiah chapter 62, verse 1, where He says:

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.”

What I love about that is He’s saying He is not going to rest. That reminds me of Elder Patrick Kearon’s talk on how God is in a relentless pursuit of us. He wants us to be able to succeed in this life. He wants us to come back to Him. He wants us to be close to Him.

And yes, we go through periods of time where it is a bit of a struggle to recognize that, but He is still there, and He is still doing things to bring us back to Him. As it says in Isaiah 62:1, “I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness.” He has not given up. He’s still doing what He can.

Seek Him Daily

In Isaiah, there are two things that the Lord has given us to help us turn back to Him and draw closer to Him. And actually, I’m going to add another thing first. Verse 2 of Isaiah 58 says:

“Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.”

So that is one thing that we can do: continually seek Him daily, finding joy and delight in getting to know Him, in reading the scriptures, in doing those things that help us to better understand Him and draw closer to Him.

Tool #1: Fasting with a Purpose

Let’s go into Isaiah 58, verses 3 through 7, and talk about one of those ways that we can draw closer:

“Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?”

To explain those scriptures a little bit more, what He’s saying here is: Are you fasting as if this is a horrible thing to do, to be afflicted? Is that the reason why we fast, to experience the pain and the hunger? No, that is not why we fast. There’s a deeper purpose to what we are doing here. It draws us closer to the Lord.

Yet sometimes we do see it as a burden, something we just need to get through on those fast Sundays. But a fast is something very special that helps us understand that we need the Lord in our lives, and it can draw us closer to Him.

Fasting to Feel Him Near

I find it interesting that this is what we’re learning about in Come Follow Me this week. We just had Fast Sunday, and as I was pondering what to fast about, I realized I usually try to have a purpose. It’s not just about going without food, and it’s not just about donating the money you would have spent on that food to those who are in need. There’s a deeper purpose as we prayerfully fast to bless lives.

Usually I’m fasting for another person. This past Sunday was something a little different for me. I was feeling that distance, and I really wanted to feel the Lord’s guidance a little more in my life. So I actually fasted for my ability to feel the Lord there with me.

Sometimes we think, “That’s kind of selfish. I’m doing this for myself.” Honestly, those thoughts did come into my mind. But I felt that it was important for me to do this. Because as I draw closer to the Lord, it impacts my ability to serve His children. It gives me greater strength to reach out to others, and it helps me create a greater connection with my kids and my family and my friends, because I am spiritually strengthened. It gives me that spiritual power. That is what I felt as I was fasting, and I started to feel closer to the Lord through that fast.

That can still happen when we’re fasting for other people as well. But maybe you need that power and that strength that comes from fasting. Maybe you’re needing to bridge that gap, and a fast can help you do that.

The Fast That I Have Chosen

Verses 6 and 7 of Isaiah 58 say:

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?”

There’s our purpose right there as to why we are fasting. It’s to loose those bands that are binding us. It’s to break the yoke that is dragging us down. It’s to help lighten that load, reaching out to Him, showing Him that we are humbling ourselves so that we can allow Him into our lives. And then there is that component of strengthening those who are in need.

So take a moment to think: Why is it that I’m fasting? Is this something that can help me bridge the distance that I am feeling between myself and God right now?

“Here I Am”: The Promises of Fasting

I love what He says next. As we continually reach out to Him, as we fast to bless the lives of others and to draw closer to Him, then in verses 8 through 11 it says:

“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity...”

The Lord is saying: Turn to me. Fast with a purpose. And then that light shall break forth, the healing will come, the Lord will be there with you, and He shall say, “Here I am.” We will start to recognize and feel the Lord there with us.

“And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.”

I love the analogy of light and darkness when it comes to the gospel and the things that we’re going through. The gospel really does bring light into our lives. He’s saying: Strengthen this connection that we have. Humble yourself and turn to me, and then go forth and be a light unto others, and help the hungry and those who are afflicted. Take action. Arise. Let that light break forth.

We do that as we seek to serve others. We pull ourselves out of focusing on our own difficulties and struggles, and we turn to see, “How can I help another person?” And then that darkness becomes lighter and lighter, so much that, as He says, “thy darkness be as the noonday.”

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”

He’s going to bless us greatly as we continually turn to Him and receive that strength and power through these fasts, as we do them with the right intention, to draw nearer to Him and then to go out and serve others. As we do these things, we bring more light into our lives, to the point that our garden is going to be watered and full.

The Repairer of the Breach

Then in verse 12, I love what He says here:

“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”

As you do these things, you’re going to be building others up. I love that phrase, “the repairer of the breach,” because that is what we are doing here. We are repairing that breach between ourselves and the Lord. And we are repairing that breach for others as well, as we allow His light to come in and move forward in that light, helping others to see that light too.

Tool #2: Calling the Sabbath a Delight

Here is another thing that the Lord tells us that will help us bridge that gap. Verses 13 and 14:

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.”

Here He’s giving us something else that helps us recognize that He is there, even in this darkness, and that is the Sabbath day. What does He tell us to do concerning the Sabbath? Turn away from doing thy pleasure on the holy day, from thine own ways, thine own pleasure, thine own words, and delight in the Lord.

So what does it mean to turn away from doing thy pleasure? This reminds me of Proverbs 3:5–6:

“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.”

We see that within this chapter as well. Fasting, and the Sabbath day, and focusing on what the Lord wants from us on the Sabbath versus what we’d rather be doing: those are the things that will help us receive that strength and that power and overcome the darkness in our lives. We are setting aside time on Sunday to truly focus on the Lord and what He wants for us, and letting go of all the other things that distract us from Him.

That’s not to say we don’t strive to have Him with us throughout the rest of the week. And yet the Sabbath day is really re-energizing, a recharging, to carry us through the different demands of the rest of the week. I love that it talks about making the Sabbath a delight. This is a privilege that we have, to honor the Sabbath. It’s also a privilege to be able to fast and turn to the Lord through that.

Those are the things that are going to help us repair that breach, to close the distance that we feel between us and our Heavenly Father. We do that as we fast, as we make the Sabbath a delight, recentering ourselves and aligning ourselves with the Lord’s will, and then moving forward, striving to help others recognize that the Lord is there for them.

Beauty for Ashes

Isaiah 61 tells us the blessings that come from trusting in the Lord and holding on to the hope that He brings, even in those dark times. Starting in verse 1:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

Here Isaiah is actually talking about the Messiah, our Savior, and all of the great things He has done for us. When we hold on to the hope that He brings, this is what happens: He binds up our broken hearts. He liberates us from captivity. He opens the prison that holds us back. He is helping us repair that breach.

So hold on. Keep the faith. He loves you. He is continually reaching out to you. He wants to bind up your broken heart. He wants to create beauty from those ashes, and to replace the spirit of heaviness with the garment of praise.

Clothed in the Garments of Salvation

In verse 10:

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”

Isn’t that beautiful? He wants to clothe us in the garments of salvation. As we truly embrace the Atonement in our lives and recognize the things the Lord has done for us, even the small and simple things we can look for each day, it gives us a little more hope. The more we look for Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways, the more we allow joy to come into our lives as we recognize that He truly is there and He is helping us.

We Are the Clay

Isaiah 64:8 gives us a great perspective on all of this, on the struggles that we face and how the Lord is helping us in them:

“But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

The Lord is creating us into beautiful works of art. Put your faith and trust in Him. He is there. He is guiding you. He is calling you to arise and let your light shine. Even in the midst of your struggles, He is there to comfort you. He is there to bind up your broken heart. He is there to give you the strength to be the light that He asks you to be.

He Carries Us

Isaiah 63:9:

“In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”

The Lord continues to redeem us and to carry us as well. Let us work on building that bridge between us and the Lord. Let us find joy and delight in fasting and in the Sabbath day. Let us recognize all the little ways that the Lord is reaching out to us. Sometimes it really is something small, like a gentle breeze. It is still from Him. He is still reaching out to you.

Sought Out, Not Forsaken

Isaiah 62:12:

“And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.”

The Lord has not forsaken us. In those hard times when you are struggling to see Him, just hold on and keep doing what you can to seek Him in your life, and you will find Him.

Small and Simple Step: Where Is the Savior?

One small and simple thing you can do to seek Him this day is to close your eyes. Take a moment and start with a few deep breaths, and picture the Savior there in the room with you. Then just notice how far away He is.

For some people, it may feel more like a movie screen. For some, He may be right there with you. For others, He may seem like He’s on the opposite side of the room. Just notice where He is. Then imagine yourself moving closer to Him, and Him moving closer to you.

Ask, “What’s standing between us?” and write down what comes to your mind. Then picture yourself taking one step toward Him. What is that one step you can take to bring yourself closer to the Lord?

Being Made Whole

What I love about Isaiah 58 through 65 is that repairing the breach isn’t just about getting close to God. It’s about being strengthened. It’s about being restored. It’s about creating beauty from ashes and being reshaped by the Potter’s hands. It’s about becoming more whole through the Lord.

If you are interested in learning more about being made whole through the Savior, be sure to check out the Divine Worth Summit, whose theme is Made Whole, running Monday, October 19th through Friday, October 23rd. I’m bringing together incredible women who will teach you how to close the gaps and the distance in your mind, your body, your spirit, and your relationships, so that you can be the light He is calling you to be.

It’s free to register, and there’s also an Access Pass you can purchase to go deeper, join the live sessions and workshops, and really apply these things to your life. Go to karenpapincoaching.thrivecart.com/summit26, and I’ll also put that link in the show notes.

Come join us. Be made whole with us, and close that gap you are feeling between yourself and the Lord, so that you can recognize that He’s not just across the room. He’s actually closer than you think. He is right there with you. I know that He is. I know that He is in relentless pursuit of you, and He wants you to recognize that you are loved, that you are of worth, and that you have a purpose.

I will see you next week.

Have you ever had a week where you felt like you were carrying everything: the worries, the to-do lists, the people you love who are hurting, and that quiet voice whispering you’re not enough? This Come Follow Me episode is for you.

This week’s Come Follow Me reading takes us through Isaiah 50–57, where the Lord says, “I, even I, am he that comforteth you.” Karen shares what these chapters taught her about grief, about her own five-year journey through infertility and miscarriage, and about how the Savior knows every sorrow we carry. Even when we can’t feel Him, He is still reaching out, still holding us, and still seeing our divine worth.

In this episode:

* Why “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” means Christ truly understands your pain

* How the Lord promises to turn our wilderness into Eden and our deserts into His garden

* Holding on through the small and simple things when healing feels slow

* Moving from comfort, to overcoming, to lifting others

* Shifting from fear of others’ opinions to the eternal truth of your self-worth in Christ

Whether you’re studying Come Follow Me on your own or with your family, this episode will help you see your self-worth through the Savior’s eyes and remember that His kindness will not depart from you.

Scriptures and resources mentioned:

* Isaiah 51:3, 7, 11, 12, 15–16

* Isaiah 52:7–9

* Isaiah 53:2–7

* Isaiah 54:1, 7, 10–11, 13

* Alma 7:11–12

* Divine Worth Summit session with Jenny Webb: Made Whole Through Seasons of Grief

📓 Go deeper with the companion journaling pagePaid subscribers to Beloved & Becoming on Substack receive a journaling page for every episode. Each page helps you apply this week’s Come Follow Me reading and strengthen your self-worth in Christ. Become a paid subscriber here: karenpapin.substack.com

This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

✨ Join the 2nd Annual Divine Worth Summit: Made Whole (October 19–23)This free five-day virtual summit explores how Christ makes us whole through grief, struggle, and every season of life. Register free before October 19: karenpapincoaching.thrivecart.com/summit26/

Listen to more episodes: karenpapin.substack.com/listen/divine-worth-podcast

Transcript

Have you ever had a week where you felt like you were carrying everything? The worries, the to-do lists, the people you love who are hurting, or even your own pain, and then that quiet voice in the back of your mind whispering, you’re not doing enough, or you’re not enough? If that’s you right now, this episode is for you.

Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast. I’m Karen Papin.

“I, Even I, Am He That Comforteth You”

This week we are diving into Isaiah chapters 50 through 57, and I want to start with this verse. It’s Isaiah chapter 51, verse 12:

“I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass.”

What I love about that is that right there, the Lord is saying, I, even I, am He that comforteth you.

I just finished recording a session for the Divine Worth Summit with Jenny Webb, where we talked about being made whole through seasons of grief. It was a heavier session because we were talking about grief and those experiences where we’ve lost someone we love. And this is something we have both found: the Lord comforts us, and He is there in those hard times and in those seasons of grief.

That is a theme throughout these chapters in Isaiah. The Lord comforts us, and He is there for us in those hard times.

The Lord Shall Comfort Zion

Earlier in chapter 51, it says:

“For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” (Isaiah 51:3)

As I’ve read these chapters, what I have really seen is that the Lord is calling out to these pains and sorrows and struggles that we face, and then reminding us that He is there. And because He is there, there is hope, there is joy, and there is peace.

Sing, O Barren

Chapter 54 says, “Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child.”

As someone who struggled with infertility for about five years, this verse really spoke to me. Going through that was one of the harder experiences of my life. Having a miscarriage in the midst of that time, and wondering if I would ever be able to have kids, was heartbreaking for me, because it was something I had always wanted. And yet through that time, the Lord carried me. He was there, and He was helping me.

Verse 7 of chapter 54 says, “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.”

Sometimes it is hard to see the Lord in our lives, but He is there. He truly is there. Even in those moments when we struggle to feel Him, when we struggle to see Him and know Him, He is still there reaching out to us, comforting us, holding us, and carrying us. He comforts us even in those times when we feel numb and unable to see Him in the midst of the hardships we are facing.

His Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee

Continuing in verse 10 of chapter 54:

“For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

Those mountains and hills that we are facing will be removed someday. So hang in there, because the Lord’s kindness is still there. He’s still helping you, He’s still reaching out, He’s still holding you, and He is still giving you that peace as you are able to receive it.

Verse 11: “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.”

Verse 13: “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”

There is hope, there is strength, and there are blessings to come. Hang on, for He is with you.

Everlasting Joy Through Small and Simple Things

Let’s go back to Isaiah chapter 51, verse 11:

“Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.”

Do you see the joy in that scripture? As we hold on and continually seek to have the Lord in our lives, as we do the things that fill us and help us prepare for harder times, we keep doing those small and simple things we’re taught: reading our scriptures, praying, going to the temple, going to church, and taking the sacrament. Even in the moments when we don’t see the Lord, as we do those things, He will bring joy into our lives.

Sometimes it’s not in the timing we would like. And yet keep doing those things. Keep holding on. Keep moving forward and keep seeking Him, because you will find Him if you seek Him and stay true.

A Man of Sorrows, Acquainted With Grief

One of my favorite parts of Isaiah is chapter 53, which talks about the Savior:

“For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2–3)

What I love about this scripture is that it talks about how Christ is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Even in our moments of sorrow and grief and intense pain, the Lord knows us and He understands us.

Alma chapter 7 talks about how the Lord has gone through pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind. He has taken upon Him our pains, our afflictions, and our temptations, so that He may know how to succor us.

And here in Isaiah 53:3, we gain a deeper understanding that Christ is a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, meaning He knows. He knows what we are going through. He knows how hard it is. He knows how it weighs us down, because He has been through it as well.

And yet we hide our faces from Him because we’re struggling, because we’re having a hard time seeing Him in the midst of this darkness and grief. Yet the Lord knows us, and He is still reaching out to us.

With His Stripes We Are Healed

Verse 4: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”

Right there, He is carrying us in the midst of the struggles we are facing.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Sometimes it feels like the healing will never come. But because Christ has overcome all things, we can overcome all things as well, as we continually put our faith and trust in Him. He has carried us. He is carrying us. And He will continue to carry us. Because of all He’s gone through, we can receive the healing that comes through Him.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

Do you see how much He loves you in this verse? Even when we turn away, He is still willing to go through what He went through for us. He took on the iniquity of us all. He took on your sins and your burdens, because He loves you.

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)

He’s not complaining. He’s not fighting. He is willingly being that lamb for us. He’s willingly being that lamb for you. Allow Him in, because He loves you and He’s done all this for you. And because of it, there is hope and there is joy to come.

Look at What I Have Done

Isaiah 51:15–16:

“But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The Lord of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.”

What I love about this is that it’s like He’s saying, Look at what I have done. Look at what I have accomplished. Of course you can make it through as well. I am with you.

And not only that, He is asking you to arise. The very next thing it says is, “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem.”

That’s the other message that comes through these chapters: I am here for you. With me you can be comforted. With me you can overcome. And with me you can reach out to others and bring them unto me.

How Beautiful Upon the Mountains

Isaiah 52:7–9:

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.”

When we liken that to ourselves, it’s an invitation to be redeemed, and to allow the joy that comes from that redemption and overcoming to come in, so that we can publish that peace and joy and help others find it as well.

There’s a natural progression here. We recognize that we have done wrong, or we’re in the midst of a struggle. Maybe we haven’t done wrong at all, but we’re experiencing mortality and everything that comes with it, and we struggle. Then we rely on the Lord, and He helps us overcome, in His time and in His way. Through that, we experience growth, we see the hope that comes, and we find joy through the redemption process. And when we are filled with that love, we want to share it with others and help them feel it too.

Fear Ye Not the Reproach of Men

Sometimes fear starts to creep in. We talked about this last week, how the Lord calls us and then fear comes in. Yet the Lord says in chapter 51, verse 7:

“Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.”

What a wonderful reminder. Maybe fear is going to come in, yet shift your focus back to the Lord, because He is eternal and He is the one who overcomes. The reproach and revilings of men are fleeting, like the moth that eats up the garment. The Lord is eternal, and He sees the eternal worth that is within you.

So let us turn to Him. Let us allow Him to comfort us, strengthen us, and help us overcome. And even in those moments of grief, let us hold on to what we know about our Savior, and hold on to the hope that there will be a time when we experience that joy, that great redemption, and the overcoming of all things.

Join Us for the Divine Worth Summit

If you want to learn more about being made whole, I have the Divine Worth Summit coming up October 19th through 23rd. The whole summit is about being made whole: how we can be made whole through Christ in the different circumstances and struggles we face, and how Christ is there. Sign up for free before October 19th by clicking the link in the show notes, and join us as we come to better understand and recognize the great love our Heavenly Father has for us.

We’ll see you next week on the Divine Worth Podcast.

Isaiah can feel hard to read, but these chapters are full of God’s love for you. In this Come Follow Me LDS episode of the Divine Worth Podcast, Karen Papin walks through Isaiah 40–49 and shares the verses that stood out to her most, with a focus on what they teach about your divine worth.

Chapter 40 opens with one word: comfort. From there, Isaiah repeats the same messages again and again: fear not, I am with thee, I have called thee by name, gather together, sing and be joyful, and they shall not be ashamed. Karen explains how each of these phrases is a personal invitation from the Lord and a reminder that He knows you, formed you, and is calling you to His work.

In this Come Follow Me LDS study, you’ll learn:

* Why Isaiah 40 marks a shift from warning to comfort, and how these prophecies speak to anyone who feels defeated or lost

* How “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31) applies to what He asks of you

* The five truths about your worth in Isaiah 43:1, and why passing through the waters and the fire doesn’t mean He has left you

* What “look unto me” (Isaiah 45:22) teaches about keeping an eye of faith, like Peter walking on water

* Why the “furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10) is a place where the Lord chooses you, not punishes you

* The tender promise of Isaiah 49:16: “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands”

Whether you’re following the Come Follow Me LDS Old Testament schedule with your family or studying on your own, this episode will help you love Isaiah and see yourself in his words. Come Follow Me LDS study doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. When you read Isaiah looking for God’s love, you’ll find it on almost every page.

Resources mentioned:

* Come Follow Me—For Home and Church: Old Testament 2026, Isaiah 40–49 lesson

* Karen’s free 7-day gratitude challenge, which helps you recognize God’s hand in your life: https://karenpapin.com/gratitudecourse/

* Scriptures referenced: Isaiah 40–49; 2 Nephi 2:25; Doctrine and Covenants 18:10; Proverbs 3:5–6; Alma 26:27 (the sons of Mosiah); Numbers 21:8–9 and 1 Nephi 17:41 (”look and live”); Matthew 14:28–31 (Peter walking on water)

* Hymn: “How Firm a Foundation”

Get the Companion Journaling Page for This Episode

Want to go deeper with Isaiah 40–49? Subscribe to Beloved & Becoming on Substack at karenpapin.substack.com. Paid subscribers receive a journaling page that goes with this episode, so you can reflect on where the Lord is calling you and how He’s already shown up in your life. It’s a simple way to turn your Come Follow Me LDS study into a personal conversation with God.

Transcript:

For this episode, I’m going to help you love Isaiah. I am really excited to dive into this. I forgot how much I love Isaiah until we started diving into these chapters for Come Follow Me. This week’s Come Follow Me reading is Isaiah chapters 40 through 49.

I’m going to read the scriptures that really stood out to me from this week’s reading and explain how they relate to your divine worth and how you can see God’s love for you throughout them.

As a young adult, I had a goal to better understand Isaiah. I bought some books about making Isaiah easier, and I really did gain a great love for it as I read. Isaiah talks a lot about the Savior and about redemption, and you can truly feel God’s love through his words.

But sometimes it can be a little tricky to get through those Isaiah chapters. So my goal here is to help you gain a greater love of Isaiah, and to see through the things the Lord tells us in Isaiah’s words that God loves you, that He believes in you, and that you are of great worth.

A Message of Comfort: Come Follow Me LDS Isaiah 40–49

One of the cool things about chapter 40 is that it sets the tone for this reading. Here’s a quote from the Come Follow Me manual:

“Comfort is the first word of Isaiah chapter 40. It marks the beginning of a different tone, a different emphasis in the prophet’s message. Isaiah’s earlier writings warned Israel and Judah about destruction and captivity that would come because of their sins. But these later prophecies were meant to comfort the Jewish people over 150 years in the future, after Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and the people were taken captive by Babylon. These prophecies, however, reach even further into the future than to the defeated, disheartened Israelites. They speak to us who also sometimes feel defeated, disheartened, or even lost.”

I hope that quote gives you a better understanding of what you’re going to get out of these scriptures as we dive into them.

Right off, in chapter 40, verse 1, Isaiah says:

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.”

The Lord is calling you to receive comfort from Him. It’s an invitation. The truth is that whatever you have gone through, and whatever you are going through, the Lord loves you, and it’s through Him that true healing can happen.

Verses 2 and 3:

“Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Right here, the Lord is calling you. He is calling you to share about the Savior. He is calling you to prepare the way for people to receive the Lord.

Repeated Phrases in Isaiah: A Come Follow Me LDS Study Guide

As I went through these chapters, there were a few phrases that were repeated several times.

He is calling you. This shows up again and again.

Gather together. This is not something we are doing alone. We are gathering together to become stronger in the Lord and to bring others unto Him.

Sing and be joyful. Singing and joy often go together in these verses: “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains” (Isaiah 49:13). He is talking about singing praises and remembering gratitude, because a praise is often a form of gratitude. As we embrace gratitude in our lives, we start to recognize and bring in the joy that our Heavenly Father wants us to have. We know from 2 Nephi 2:25 that “men are, that they might have joy.” That is something the Lord wants for us.

I have formed thee from the womb, and called thee by name. The Lord knows us. He created us. He has known us all our lives.

Elect. Last week we talked about Emma Smith and how she was an elect lady, someone called by God. That’s what elect means: you are chosen. The Lord is saying, You are my chosen people.

Fear not. That makes a lot of sense to me, because He is calling us. When we recognize that the Lord is calling us, it often requires us to step outside our comfort zone and do something we’re not used to or that scares us. So He says it several times: fear not.

I am with thee. This is often paired with fear not. These are little reminders that you don’t have to be afraid, because He is with you. Throughout these scriptures, the Lord keeps pointing to the great works He has done, showing that with Him nothing is impossible. And yet people keep turning to idols and other gods that really aren’t going to do anything for them, while the Lord will be an integral part of our lives.

They shall not be ashamed. When we keep our faith, trust, and focus on the Lord, we are not ashamed. We know we are doing what is right. Whenever we feel opposition, or others look down on us for doing what’s right, we can stand firm, because the Lord is there with us reminding us that what we did was right.

Now let’s dive into the verses so you can see how these phrases show up, and recognize that the Lord is calling you, that He believes in you, and that He is there for you because He loves you.

Isaiah 40: They That Wait Upon the Lord (Come Follow Me LDS)

Verse 8:

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

What I love about that is He’s telling us, trust in me. Everything else is fleeting, but the Lord is eternal.

Verse 9:

“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!”

Do you see how the Lord is calling you? He sees you as capable of sharing the truth of the gospel with others.

Verse 11:

“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.”

This is about how the Lord reaches out to you and supports you. He is going to help you through the things He is asking of you. I love that He compares Himself to a shepherd and us to lambs, because a true shepherd will do whatever he can for his sheep. They know him and he knows them.

Verses 12–14:

“Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?”

To me, this shows the Lord’s great understanding. He knows the dust of the earth. He knows the weight of the mountains. The Lord knows more than we do, so let us trust Him, because He has a greater vision of what can be accomplished.

Verse 26:

“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.”

Isn’t that beautiful? He calls them all by name. He knows you. He is strong in power, and not one faileth. As it says in Proverbs 3:5–6, as we trust in Him, lean not unto our own understanding, and in all our ways acknowledge Him, He directs our paths and helps us succeed.

Verse 29:

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”

He gives us strength and power to fulfill His will.

And I love verse 31:

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

One reason I love this is that I just love birds, and eagles in general. But it reminds us that we will have the strength and energy to do what He is asking of us. That may look different depending on the person and the situation in your life. Yet as we put our faith and trust in Him, He will give us enough of what we need to accomplish those things.

Do you see how beautiful this chapter is, and how the Lord is showing you, I believe in you. I believe that you can do this. Trust in me? He also talks about those who create idols and worship them, and how that does not profit them. But the Lord is an active participant in our lives. He is with us.

Isaiah 41: Fear Thou Not, For I Am With Thee (Come Follow Me LDS)

Verse 8:

“But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.”

Verse 10:

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

The hymn “How Firm a Foundation” is based on this scripture. The Lord is with us in the moments when we feel discouraged, and He strengthens us. There’s a scripture in the Book of Mormon about the sons of Mosiah, telling how when their hearts were depressed and they were about to turn back, the Lord comforted them.

The same is true for us. He will help us in the dark times of our lives too. Sometimes it’s hard to see Him in those times, yet keep trusting and keep having faith, because He is there, helping you even in ways you don’t recognize.

Verse 13:

“For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

Verse 14 also says fear not. That is one of the themes throughout these chapters.

Halfway through verse 17:

“I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”

In those deep, dark times, He is not forsaking you. He is still there.

In verses 18 and 19, He lists the things He will do:

“I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water… I will plant in the wilderness the cedar…”

To me this is a reminder that we can get caught up in all these other things, yet the Lord is capable of helping us overcome, and He is continually reaching out to help us in different ways.

Verse 20:

“That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.”

He’s saying, open your eyes to see the great works I have done. Why is that so important? Because when we intentionally choose to see the ways the Lord is helping us, it brings in gratitude and joy. It also gives us hope that we too can overcome, because we have Him on our side. There is nothing we cannot do when we have the Lord on our side.

Isaiah 43: I Have Called Thee by Name (Come Follow Me LDS)

There’s so much in all of these chapters. I love how often the Lord reminds us that He is calling us, and reminds us once again to fear not. That shows up several times in chapter 43.

Verse 1:

“But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.”

He created you. He formed you. You do not need to fear. He has redeemed you. You are His. That’s five things right there letting you know that you are of worth, that you are loved, and that the Lord knows you. Because of that, you have no need to fear.

Verses 2–3:

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.”

In verse 1 He tells us He knows us, loves us, and has called us. Then He tells us we’re going to go through the rivers and through the fire. There are going to be hard things. We are not exempt from the struggles of life, yet the Lord will make a way for us to get through them, and we can overcome. There is such hope in these verses.

Verses 4–5:

“Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee… Fear not: for I am with thee.”

He is directly telling you that He loves you and that you are precious in His sight. We know from Doctrine and Covenants 18:10 that “the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” Here we are told again: you are precious in His sight.

Verses 6–7:

“Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.”

We are reminded that we are His sons and daughters. He created us and formed us.

Verses 10–12:

“Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.”

Let us rise up and be those witnesses. Let us seek to see Him in every aspect of our lives so we can bring that light to others, so that they too can be redeemed and feel the love the Lord has for them.

Verse 25:

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together…”

I love that phrase, let us plead together. The Lord is saying, I have gone through the Atonement. I have blotted out your transgressions, and I’m not going to remember your sins. Let us plead together.

Isaiah 44: Thou Shalt Not Be Forgotten (Come Follow Me LDS)

Once again, the Lord is calling us.

Verses 1–3:

“Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”

The Lord is calling us, and He is going to bless us. The truth is that the Lord wants to bless us.

I’m not reading every verse in Isaiah 40–49 that talks about idol worship and turning away from the Lord, but they’re interspersed throughout these chapters. What the Lord is saying is: come unto me so I can bless you. Stop turning to other things. They are not going to give you what you seek.

So where is your focus? Are you focused on the things that, as verse 9 says, are “all of them vanity,” meaning they’re fleeting and don’t last? Or are you turning to the Lord, who is eternal, who has been there from the beginning, and who will be there in the midst of your struggles?

Verse 21:

“Thou shalt not be forgotten of me.”

It’s that simple, beautiful reminder: I have not forgotten you.

Isaiah 45: Look Unto Me and Be Ye Saved (Come Follow Me LDS)

Verse 3:

“I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.”

That’s how well He knows us.

Verse 4:

“For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.”

First in verse 3 and now in verse 4: I have called thee by name. There are certainly times when we are not focused on Him and don’t recognize Him in our lives, and yet He is still calling us by name.

Verse 6:

“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.”

This stood out to me because God is there in nature. We can see Him in the rising of the sun. There are so many ways to see the Lord in our lives.

If you want to dive deeper into recognizing God in your life, check out my free 7-day gratitude challenge. Each day you receive a topic to focus on, all about recognizing the ways God is there in your life: https://karenpapin.com/gratitudecourse/

Verse 22:

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

I love that phrase, look unto me. It reminds me of look and live. When the Israelites in the wilderness were bitten by fiery serpents, Moses raised the brass serpent on a pole, and all they had to do was look and live. The Book of Mormon tells us that many didn’t look because it was so easy. They were skeptical that they could be healed that way.

So here is a beautiful reminder: where do we put our focus? On the Lord. Another phrase that comes to mind is having an eye of faith. When we keep our focus on the Lord, we can do impossible things. Peter walked on water as long as he kept his eyes on the Lord. It was when he got distracted that he sank, and even then the Lord was right there, ready to reach out and lift him up.

Isaiah 46–48: The Furnace of Affliction (Come Follow Me LDS)

Isaiah 46:11, about halfway through:

“Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”

The Lord follows through on what He says He will do. That goes both ways: in blessing us, and in allowing consequences when we are not putting our faith and trust in Him. All the more reason to put our faith in Him. We can trust Him, because He will follow through.

Isaiah 48:10:

“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”

As I mentioned earlier, we are not exempt from struggles and trials. That doesn’t mean they’re consequences or punishments. Sometimes we go through the furnace of affliction to become stronger, to learn from our experiences, and to gain more empathy. There are many reasons we go through the trials we do in life, and the Lord is choosing us even in the midst of those struggles.

Isaiah 49: Graven Upon the Palms of His Hands (Come Follow Me LDS)

There are so many good things in this chapter, but I want to focus on verse 16. After telling us that He will not forsake us and has not forgotten us, the Lord says:

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”

The Lord will not forget us. He has literally engraven us on the palms of His hands. Those are continual reminders of His love for us. He loves us so much that He gave His life for us. He loves us so much that He rose again. He loves us so much that He suffered for your sins.

He wants you to know that He loves you and that He will not forget you. You are of worth, and you have a great work to do on this earth. He is calling you to do it. As you put your faith and trust in Him, you can let go of fear and move forward with faith that He will provide a way.

New Come Follow Me LDS episodes of the Divine Worth Podcast release every Thursday. Listen at karenpapin.substack.com/listen/divine-worth-podcast.

Emma Smith gave up a life of comfort to follow the Lord, and what followed was mobs, persecution, poverty, forced moves, and the loss of several children. Yet in Doctrine and Covenants 25, the Lord opens His words to her by calling her “my daughter.” In this episode, Karen Papin explores Emma’s story and what it reveals about God’s love for LDS women today, especially when life is heavy and we can’t see the whole picture.

If you’ve ever struggled with your self worth, doubted your confidence, or wondered whether God still sees you in your grief, this episode is for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

* How the Lord prepared Emma for the roles He had in store for her, and how He is preparing you too

* Why reading D&C 25:1 with your own name can transform your self worth

* Why God’s love doesn’t mean He removes the hard things

* A tender account from the end of Emma’s life that reminds us not to judge others or ourselves so harshly

* What it means to be an “elect lady”: chosen with love and respect, and trusted with meaningful work

Karen also shares her own experience with grief after a miscarriage and how the Lord patiently guided her back to growth. For LDS women seeking deeper faith and lasting confidence, Emma’s story is a reminder that your worth isn’t something to earn. It’s something to become.

This week, ask yourself: What great work is the Lord calling me to do, and what one small step can I take today?

🎧 Go deeper on the Strength to Become podcastWant to explore what it means to be an elect lady and how the Lord calls us to teach, expound, and exhort? Listen to “Becoming a Covenant Child of God,” the companion episode on this week’s For the Strength of Youth lesson on Emma Smith and D&C 25:https://karenpapin.substack.com/p/becoming-a-covenant-child-of-god

💌 Grab your free Divine Worth Scripture CardsJust as the Lord reminded Emma that she was His daughter, these free scripture cards help you remember who God sees in you. Keep them on your mirror, in your car, or in your scriptures as daily reminders of your self worth and a boost to your confidence in Him:https://karenpapin.com/scripturecards

Resources mentioned in this episode:

* Doctrine and Covenants Section 25: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/25

* “My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith” by Gracia N. Jones, Ensign, August 1992: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1992/08/my-great-great-grandmother-emma-hale-smith

* “Emma,” from the album Nashville Tribute to the Prophet

* Lucy Mack Smith’s words about Emma, quoted from her history of Joseph Smith

* For the Strength of Youth lesson: Emma Smith, a covenant daughter of God (D&C 25)

✨ Paid subscribers: your journal pages are waiting

Listening is just the beginning. Real change happens when you take time to sit with the Lord and write down what He’s teaching you. Paid subscribers get the companion “An Elect Lady” journal pages for this episode. It’s a printable 4-page guide with space to write your own name into D&C 25:1, six reflection prompts drawn from Emma’s story, a “small and simple step” commitment, and a Divine Worth declaration to carry with you all week.

If you’re ready to build your self worth and confidence as a daughter of God, upgrade to a paid subscription and download your journal pages below.

This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

Episode Transcript

Welcome to the Divine Worth podcast, where we are letting go of our fear and self-doubt and other limiting beliefs so that we can embrace who God sees in us. I am your host, life coach Karen Papin, and I’m excited about today because we are diving into learning about someone from the Doctrine and Covenants: Emma Smith and her story.

I talked a bit about this on my Strength to Become podcast, because this Sunday’s For the Strength of Youth lesson also focuses on Emma Smith, how she was a covenant daughter of God, and what we can learn from that and from Doctrine and Covenants section 25. I dove into that lesson there, but I wanted to talk about Emma Smith on the Divine Worth podcast as well because of the lessons we can learn from her about God’s love for us, and how He is there for us even in the hard and difficult moments of our lives.

So I’m going to share some of the lessons we can learn from Emma Smith, from her story, and from Doctrine and Covenants section 25, and how we can hear the Lord speaking to us through the words He tells Emma Smith. With that, let’s learn a little bit about Emma.

The Lord Prepared Emma for Her Divine Roles

The first thing I want to talk about concerning Emma Smith is how the Lord prepared her to fulfill the roles He had in mind for her.

Emma was raised in a wealthy family. One thing we can glean from that is that she knew how to be in society. I imagine a lot of the grace she had and her ability to lead came as a result of her upbringing. She went on to become the first lady of Nauvoo. She went on to become the Relief Society president. And because of the great faith she had growing up in her family, all of those things helped prepare her to fulfill those roles in the Relief Society and as the wife of Joseph Smith.

She hosted diplomats in her home. She made public appearances with Joseph at community events and supported her husband politically in various ways. She had been guided by the Lord throughout her life to be in a position where she could be a great support to her husband. Her education offset the lack of education Joseph Smith had, and she often served as a scribe for him.

Those were some of the ways the Lord prepared Emma to fulfill the divine roles He had in store for her.

God Saw Emma as His Daughter

Another thing we can learn from Emma is that God saw her as His daughter. We learn that in Doctrine and Covenants section 25, so let’s dive in and read it. This section is a revelation given specifically to Emma through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Verse 1 says:

“Hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God, while I speak unto you, Emma Smith, my daughter; for verily I say unto you, all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom.”

Right there, He is letting Emma know, you are my daughter. And not only that, but that all who receive the gospel are His sons and daughters. As we read that, we too can come to know, understand, and feel the truth of it.

In fact, go back and read that verse, and where it says “while I speak unto you,” insert your name: my daughter. “For verily I say unto you, all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom.”

He is also speaking to you and letting you know that you are a child of God. Why is that so important? Because when we recognize and understand who we are as children of God, it affects every aspect of our lives. It affects what we believe, it affects our capabilities, it affects our behaviors, and ultimately our environment. As we truly embrace that we are children of God, with the divine qualities of our Heavenly Father within us, and as we turn to Him and allow Him to lead and guide us, we can grow. With the help of the Savior, we can overcome all things, and our capacity to do hard things grows as we put our faith and trust in the Lord.

“How Much Can One Heart Take?”

That is definitely something we see throughout Emma Smith’s life. She experienced so much. One quote I want to share with you is from Emma’s mother-in-law, Lucy Mack Smith:

“I have never seen a woman in my life, who would endure every species of fatigue and hardship, from month to month, and from year to year, with that unflinching courage, zeal, and patience, which she has always done… She has been tossed upon the ocean of uncertainty—she has breasted the storms of persecution, and buffeted the rage of men and devils, which would have borne down almost any other woman.”

Emma went through so much in her life. She gave up a life of ease, comfort, and wealth to marry Joseph Smith, which turned her life upside down in a lot of ways. She lived in a place of uncertainty because of the persecution. Mobs would come into her home in the middle of the night. She lost several children, not just one or two, and she carried that grief and pain throughout her life, missing those children.

She and Joseph lived as vagabonds in many ways, moving from city to city. At times her husband was in and out of jail because of false accusations thrown at him. There was intense persecution, and they were driven from home to home. When Joseph was in jail, she had to pack up her family and travel to a different town to escape the persecution, without any strength and support other than the words Joseph wrote to her in letters.

To give you a little more of an example, in the August 1992 Ensign, Emma’s great-great-granddaughter, Gracia N. Jones, wrote an article called “My Great-Great-Grandmother, Emma Hale Smith.” She wrote this about Emma:

“Emma did not know a settled home until Nauvoo. Due to persecution and to further the Lord’s work, members of the Church moved from state to state. Emma suffered much tribulation. She was robbed and ridiculed. She and the children often went hungry. Still, she struggled to provide for her children during Joseph’s imprisonments and long absences. Many Saints helped her, but some took advantage, severely increasing her difficulties and undermining her trust. While Joseph and the other Church leaders were unjustly imprisoned at Liberty, Missouri, Emma and her four little children became part of the major Church exodus from the state after the extermination order was issued on the 27th of October, 1838, by Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs.”

That gives you a little more of an idea of what Emma experienced. There’s a song on the Nashville Tribute to the Prophet album called “Emma,” and a phrase from that song often comes to my mind when I think of Emma Smith: How much can one heart take?

The article also describes how Emma’s granddaughter realized that Emma never really smiled with her eyes, because she was weighed down by all the grief she had experienced in her life. And yet, throughout all of it, she had faith in God. She knew Joseph Smith was a prophet, and she knew the Book of Mormon is the word of God. She never stopped believing that.

Leaving the Judgment to the Lord

I think sometimes we as members of the Church criticize Emma because she did not come across the plains with the Saints, but stayed in Nauvoo after Joseph Smith’s martyrdom. Yet when you really think about the grief and pain she carried, and all the times she had to gather her children and take them to another home, is it really any wonder that, in the midst of all that grief, she did not want to do that again?

I also think sometimes the Lord has a different plan for us than what we think, and it really is not up to us to judge the plan He has for someone else. Once again, in that article, Gracia says:

“It is documented that Emma quarreled with some Church leaders over various aspects of settling Joseph’s estate, and that hurt feelings resulted which were not resolved at the time. Yet through prayerful examination of materials and through refraining from judging the people involved, I have come to peacefully understand that in the threatening atmosphere of persecution that prevailed at the time, some of Emma’s hesitation resulted because she feared for the lives of her children. She did not know whom to trust, and there was no time and no peace for the natural healing of her grief to occur.”

So she’s sharing how that affected Emma’s decision not to come across the plains. And yet Emma had a beautiful experience at the end of her life that tells us the Lord loves us, and that the way He judges is different from the way we judge. Also from that article, around the time Emma passed away:

“Sister Elizabeth Revel, Emma’s nurse, explained that a few days earlier Emma had told her that Joseph came to her in a vision and said, ‘Emma, come with me, it is time for you to come with me.’ As Emma related it, she said, ‘I put on my bonnet and my shawl and went with him; I did not think that it was anything unusual. I went with him into a mansion, and he showed me through the different apartments of that beautiful mansion. And one room was the nursery. In that nursery was a babe in the cradle.’ She said, ‘I knew my babe, my Don Carlos that was taken from me.’ She sprang forward, caught the child up in her arms, and wept with joy over the child. When Emma recovered herself sufficient, she turned to Joseph and said, ‘Joseph, where are the rest of my children?’ He said to her, ‘Emma, be patient, and you shall have all of your children.’ Then she saw standing by his side a personage of light, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finding this testimony reminded me of how precious each soul is in the sight of our Savior, whose compassion and power to save is beyond all comprehension. All of us make mistakes and are in need of repentance. Whenever we withdraw from the fellowship of the Saints and cease to partake of the sacrament on a regular basis, we tend to lose our way and become subject to misunderstanding, especially if our course has been set by real or imagined injury to our feelings or pride. This could happen to any of us, including my dear great-great-grandmother.”

I think that’s a beautiful reminder that it’s really not up to us to judge. If anything, when we look at Emma’s life, we can see just how difficult it was, and also the great love and compassion the Lord has for her. We already know from Doctrine and Covenants section 25 that He saw Emma as His daughter. And from the experience she had just a few days before her death, we can recognize that the Lord still loved her enough to send Joseph Smith to prepare the way for her to enter into the next life.

So one thing we can learn from Emma’s life is not to judge others so harshly, and also not to judge ourselves so harshly, but to recognize and understand that the Lord loves us. He is patient with us, and He knows us.

I know for me personally, when I experienced a miscarriage, there was a period of time when I did not want to grow. The grief was so strong. And the Lord was patient with me. He helped me, He guided me, and He gave me strength when I needed it. When I was ready to start taking more steps outside my comfort zone, He was there, ready to guide me in those moments as well.

God’s Love Doesn’t Remove the Hard Things

Another lesson we can learn from Emma Smith’s life is that God’s love doesn’t mean He removes the hard things. Clearly she went through a lot of difficult things. Seeing what she went through reminds us that just because we are doing what He asks of us does not mean everything will go exactly the way we want. In fact, the opposite is often true. We will experience opposition and go through hard things. But it’s a learning process of trusting in the Lord even in those hard times, and knowing that He is there even then.

I once heard a story of a girl who had cancer. She would often write in her journal about what she was experiencing, and her parents found the phrase “the moon is still round.” They wondered what it meant. Going through her journals, they found an entry where she described looking out her window at the different phases of the moon and realizing that even if she only saw a glimmer of it, it was still the same shape.

She realized the same is true of God. Even in the times when we struggle to see Him in our lives, He is still there. He is still there.

God Trusted Emma with Meaningful Work

Another lesson from Emma Smith’s life, and what the For the Strength of Youth lesson focuses on, is that God trusted Emma with meaningful work. In Doctrine and Covenants section 25, verses 6 through 8, this is what He says to Emma:

“And thou shalt go with him at the time of his going, and be unto him for a scribe, while there is no one to be a scribe for him, that I may send my servant, Oliver Cowdery, whithersoever I will.”

She is going to go with Joseph Smith in the struggles he’s facing, being that comfort and support to him as his wife. And she is also to be his scribe. At this time, Oliver Cowdery was serving as scribe, but the Lord had other plans for Oliver, so He asks Emma to take over those duties. Verses 7 and 8 continue:

“And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit. For he shall lay his hands upon thee, and thou shalt receive the Holy Ghost, and thy time shall be given to writing, and to learning much.”

Here the Lord tells Emma that she is to expound the scriptures. She is called not just to be a scribe, but to teach others as well. He then calls her to compile a hymnbook. Verse 12 says:

“For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.”

He’s talking about the importance of what Emma is doing. She will put together these songs, and they will bless the Saints and all who sing from that hymnbook. He calls her to several great works in this section. And we too are asked to teach, expound, exhort, and be guided by the Lord in serving others. He asks this not just of Emma, but of us as well. If you want to dive deeper into that, check out my Strength to Become podcast, where I talk more about how the Lord asks us to teach, exhort, and expound the scriptures.

“Murmur Not”: Trusting When We Don’t See the Whole Picture

Another lesson we learn from Emma is in verse 4:

“Murmur not because of the things which thou hast not seen, for they are withheld from thee and from the world, which is wisdom in me in a time to come.”

God is allowing Emma to learn and grow through the things she doesn’t understand. He’s essentially telling her, You don’t have the whole picture, so just trust me in this. I think that’s something we can all learn. A lot of times we don’t have the whole picture, and yet as we put our faith and trust in the Lord, He leads us and guides us. I say that a lot: He leads us and He loves us. He will help us navigate the uncertainty in our lives. He really does have a greater vision of what needs to happen. If we can put our faith and trust in that, we will overcome, and at some point, whether in this life or the next, we will come to understand why certain things happened the way they did.

That can be a really hard lesson to learn. Yet as we do it, the Lord guides us, and we can find the great joy that comes from trusting in Him.

Something to Become, Not Something to Earn

The last thing I want to share is that God’s love gave Emma something to become. Not something to earn, but something to become. Doctrine and Covenants section 25, verses 14 and 15, says:

“Continue in the spirit of meekness, and beware of pride. Let thy soul delight in thy husband, and the glory which shall come upon him. Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive.”

He ends this revelation with the promise of a crown of righteousness. And I haven’t mentioned this yet, but at the beginning, in verse 3, He calls Emma an elect lady. I talk more about this on the Strength to Become podcast, but elect means you are chosen, and lady is a title of respect. So the Lord is essentially saying, You are someone I have chosen with love and with respect.

Then toward the end, He talks about how she will receive a crown of righteousness as she keeps the commandments and seeks not to be prideful. This is something we can learn from as well, because we too can be elect. He is calling us to do the great work He has in store for us. That may look different depending on who we are. We are all individuals, and the Lord knows and understands that. He knew that with Emma Smith, and He loved her through every experience she had. She may have been greatly tested throughout her life, and yet the Lord saw her as His daughter. He saw her as an elect lady. He called her to do a great work. And He is doing the same for us.

So take some time today to think: What is the great work the Lord is calling me to do? And what is one thing I can do to move forward? Even if it’s a small and simple step, what is one thing you can do to move forward and truly embrace that you are an elect lady, someone chosen by God, called, and given a great work?

I will see you next week on the Divine Worth podcast.

This week’s episode is a little different — and deeply personal. After a tender moment with her son turned into an accidental elbow to the face (and a whole lot of mommy guilt on his end), Karen was reminded of something we all carry: the tendency to hold onto our mistakes long after they’ve happened, replaying them over and over instead of moving forward.

In this episode, Karen shares a letter she wrote — one she imagines coming from a loving Heavenly Father to “the one” who feels stuck in shame. It’s a message about releasing guilt, receiving grace, and rebuilding your Confidence and Self Worth after you’ve fallen short. Because your mistakes were never meant to define you — they’re part of the process of becoming.

If you’re an LDS woman who struggles to move past your own missteps, who ruminates instead of repents, or who just needs to hear that you are loved regardless of your weaknesses — this episode is for you. True Confidence doesn’t come from never messing up. Real Self Worth comes from knowing whose you are, even in your imperfection.

In this episode:

* The story behind the letter — a real moment of motherhood and repentance

* A full reading of “A Letter to the One,” originally published on Substack

* Why rumination keeps us stuck, and what repentance actually offers us instead

* How embracing God’s love can restore your Confidence and Self Worth, even after failure

Resources mentioned:

* Read more Letters to the One (and other devotional writing) on Karen’s Substack, Beloved & Becoming

Coming up next week: A study of Emma Smith as a covenant woman of God, diving into Doctrine & Covenants section 25.

Want more encouragement for the journey? Head over to Karen’s Substack, Beloved & Becoming, for more letters, devotionals, and reflections — and be sure to check out Karen’s other podcast, Strength to Become, for more on building the Confidence and Self Worth every LDS woman deserves to carry.

Transcript:

A Letter to the One

Welcome to the podcast. This week I am doing something I haven’t done before, and I want to give you a little background on what I’ll be sharing today.

I had this experience where I was cuddling with my son, putting him to bed. We were just cuddling there, and I was singing to him. He shifted in a way and elbowed me right in the face — I couldn’t escape it. It hurt.

My son felt horrible. He curled up into himself and started crying, feeling awful that he had hurt Mommy. I held him and did my best to comfort him, but it took a while for him to calm down and move on from that experience.

And I realized — this is something we all go through. We hold onto a mistake we made, even though we feel horrible, even though there are things we can do to overcome it, and even though we have the Savior in our life. We still hold onto these mistakes. We beat ourselves up over and over. We ruminate over and over.

As I was pondering this — and since I’ve been focused on writing down the things that come to my mind — this was one of those things. So I wrote a letter to the one who is stuck in those mistakes and can’t get out of them. I posted it on Substack, and I want to share it with you today.

Here is what I wrote, to that one:

My dear one,

I held you as you cried.

In that moment, all I wanted was for you to be comforted. I offered words of comfort and the love shared through my warm embrace. Yet you still felt the sorrow, the pain, the guilt, the shame.

All I could do was hold you — trying to allow the love I felt for you to flow through my arms and into your soul. Trying to ease your pain through words I’m not sure were even getting through to you.

Sometimes that’s all we can do: feel that pain. Sometimes all we can do is allow ourselves to see the mistakes we’ve made.

And we struggle to move to the next step, because what we see is so obvious to us, and so painful to admit.

Yet that acknowledgment is the first step to moving forward. It is hard, but so needed. Please don’t get stuck there. I know what it’s like to ruminate over and over on what you did — replaying that moment in your mind, wishing you could go back and change the reality of what happened, yet feeling the hopelessness and awareness that what was done was done.

There is hope. It’s called repentance. It’s called love. It’s called doing what you can to right the wrongs, and committing to doing things differently next time.

Because you see — when you get stuck in the hopeless, either not focusing on what happened, or refusing to accept it, or ruminating over and over and not accepting that you can’t go back and change it — it keeps you from making the change.

My dear one, mistakes are a part of life. They are a part of learning. And you have been given agency and the ability to choose who you will be moving forward. You get to choose how you want to respond to what happened.

So instead of hiding in shame, allow yourself to feel my love for you — my love that extends to you regardless of the mistakes you’ve made or the weaknesses you carry. Accept where you are, because then you can see more clearly the actions you need to take to make things right.

Move forward from that love that I have for you. Move forward with hope.

I love you. And I always will.

That’s the end of the letter to the one. I imagined writing that not only to my son, but I also felt the words spoken to myself — as if Heavenly Father were telling them to me. I hope you felt that too. That you know you have a loving Heavenly Father who understands that you have made mistakes, and because of that, has provided a way for you to move forward — to apply the Atonement in your life, to have His love in your life, and to learn and grow.

While we are here on earth, we will make mistakes. That is part of the process.

I hope you enjoyed this letter. You can find more letters like this one on my Substack newsletter, Beloved & Becoming — I’ll put the link in the show notes.

Be sure to join me next week. We’ll be talking about a covenant woman of God — specifically Emma Smith — diving into Doctrine & Covenants section 25 and learning more about how God showed His love through her.

See you next week.

Thanks for reading Beloved & Becoming! This post is public so feel free to share it.

For paid subscribers, get your journaling pdf for this episode below:

This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

Welcome back to Season 3 of the Divine Worth Podcast! In this episode, Karen shares a personal update on her summer of writing and growth, then dives into a powerful lesson on self worth through the story of Eve. If you’ve ever struggled with self-editing, rumination, or shame after making a mistake, this episode is for you.

Karen unpacks Eve’s story from Moses chapter 5, showing how the very first woman on earth — with no mortal mother to guide her — modeled a journey of failure, grief, and redemption that speaks directly to self worth for LDS women today. From the fall in the Garden of Eden to the heartbreak of losing her son Abel, Eve’s life reminds us that mistakes are not the end of our story — they’re part of God’s plan for growth.

Karen also introduces the practice of free writing as a tool for processing difficult emotions, and issues a challenge: what if you aimed to fail more, not less, in pursuit of doing what’s right? This episode is a gentle, faith-filled invitation for LDS women to release shame, embrace imperfection, and rebuild self worth through the Savior’s grace.

In this episode:

* Karen’s summer update: writing, homeschooling, and starting a Substack

* Free writing as a tool for processing grief, anxiety, and depression

* Eve’s story and what it teaches us about self worth

* How Eve’s loss of her son Abel speaks to grief and rumination

* The “40 fails a month” mindset shift

* A simple 3-step process for moving past mistakes: acknowledge, get curious, remember it’s not the end

Paid subscribers on substack, your journaling prompts for this episode are waiting for you at the bottom of the page — a companion to help you sit with Eve’s story and reflect on your own journey toward self worth.

Full Transcript

Welcome Back to Season 3

Welcome to the Divine Worth Podcast. I am so, so happy to be able to be here with you today and be able to start Season 3 of the Divine Worth Podcast. We’ve had a little bit of a break, and in that time I’ve been focusing more on writing and stepping outside my comfort zone in that way. I started a Substack to hold myself accountable to this new goal I have of improving my writing.

On there I share more about Divine Worth and seeing what God sees in you. I’ve been writing these “Letters to the One” — letters that are about helping you to feel seen, to feel heard, to recognize that God loves you. There are also letters of things that I want my kids to know. I’ve been writing these letters to the one, and also just doing writing exercises and sharing the things that I am writing so that I can learn and grow and get better — because the only way I’m going to get better at my writing is by actually taking that action and writing. That’s what I’ve been doing over the summer, in addition to spending more time with my kids and enjoying that they’ve been home. They’re back at school now, except for my eldest, who I’m homeschooling, and that has been a fun experience so far as well.

So that’s a little update on what’s going on with me. But I am excited for this season of the Divine Worth Podcast.

Free Writing as a Release

One of the things I’ve been doing with my Substack is a free write. What that is, is I just take time — I grab my writing notebook and I write whatever comes to my mind without really censoring what it is that’s coming out. This can be a really beneficial exercise to do when you’re feeling depressed or anxious, or if you’re feeling grief — to just be able to write out the emotions you’re feeling. The interesting thing about doing that is it is a huge release, because that part of ourselves that is feeling these unresolved emotions begins to feel seen and heard. We’re no longer hiding or trying to hide those emotions or act like we don’t have them — we’re actually acknowledging and experiencing them so that we can process them and ultimately move forward in the ways we want to move forward.

So that’s something I’ve been doing with my Substack — writing out whatever comes to my mind, whatever I’m feeling, and then processing those emotions through my writing. Sometimes it can be hard to do that, because inside there’s this desire to want to edit myself, to edit the things I’m saying. Yet the most powerful writing happens as we just let it all out.

If you’re someone who finds yourself editing yourself throughout your day — keeping you from trying something new because you’re afraid to fail, or maybe you have trouble beginning a conversation with someone else because you’ve got all these ways you’re editing yourself before you even open your mouth — or maybe you’re someone who replays things over and over again in your mind. That’s something I have really struggled with in the past — just ruminating, even after a conversation or a mistake I made, replaying it over and over again. I’ve come a long way as I’ve learned some of these tools, such as this free writing.

Or maybe you feel stuck in shame anytime you make a mistake, and you struggle to really let go of those mistakes. Eve’s story is something I feel is really helpful in relation to all of this, for those of us who do tend to edit ourselves. So let’s learn a little bit more about Eve.

Eve: The First Woman

Eve was the first woman on Earth. That is something that can seem so unfathomable to me, because sometimes in our lives we feel alone. Sometimes, as a mom myself, I can feel at such a loss for what to do for my kids and for those I love — not even just my kids, but for anyone we’re called to serve, we can feel at a loss and not really know how to move forward. So I can only imagine what Eve must have experienced and been feeling, being someone who really was the first one, paving the way for all the other women who would come after her.

She did not have a mortal mother to help her know how to nurse her babies, or to know when to push them to step outside their comfort zones and when to rein them in, and to guide them in the different things they did. She was someone who we know made mistakes, and yet we also know there was wisdom within her mistakes.

Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. They were told not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When Satan came tempting Eve, she desired to be able to know good from evil, and so she partook of the fruit. Then she goes and gets Adam to partake of the fruit. What happens is they’re kicked out of the Garden of Eden because of this transgression they chose. But they still believe in God, they still follow Him, and they make sacrifices to Him, and they know that He is there and that He will guide them.

What Moses Chapter 5 Teaches Us

So I want to go into Moses chapter 5, because there’s something very interesting said within these verses. They’ve been cast out, and it says: after many days an angel of the Lord appears unto Adam, saying, “Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?” And Adam said unto him, “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” So they are still putting their faith and trust in the Lord, and they understand that they made a decision that caused them to be kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and they are accepting of the Lord’s decision in that.

Then the angel says unto them: “This thing is the similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore.” So here they’re talking about — you have been asked to do these sacrifices because they are reminding you what the Savior does for you. And yes, you made this choice, yes, you have fallen because of this choice, but there is a way for you to overcome.

“And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying: I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and forever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.”

And in verse 10: “And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.”

And verse 11: “And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.”

This beautiful understanding comes over them — that this was actually part of the plan. That we would come here, that we would make mistakes, and that we would have a Savior to help us overcome those mistakes, to learn from them, to know and understand good and evil, and to understand the joy that comes from repentance, and to move forward — multiplying, replenishing the earth, teaching others, bringing them unto this great knowledge as well.

Seeing God’s Love Through Eve

Eve’s story teaches us something beautiful — that mistakes are part of this process here on earth, and we have a Savior to help us overcome each one of those mistakes. We can see God’s love through Eve, because of this experience where she made a decision, and because of that decision she fell — and allowed us to be able to come to this earth.

I imagine that as the first woman, as the first mother on this earth, there were many times Eve felt like she was not doing a very good job — where she was making a mistake, where she did not know how to overcome those weaknesses. And yet she was given the Savior to help her overcome, time and time again.

Eve’s Grief: Cain and Abel

Another example from Eve that I don’t think we actually think of from her perspective is that her sons Cain and Abel — Cain was her son, and he killed his brother Abel. Just imagine the heartache Eve must have felt in learning about that, in the grief of having not only lost her son, but having lost Abel because of the action of another one of her sons. Just the heartache — Eve felt it all too.

Eve knows what it’s like to go through hard things, and she also knows what it’s like to continue to move forward, and just the courage she must have had to be able to have kids after that as well — being able to give birth to Seth and raise him and teach him to follow God’s path, even after having, I’m sure, felt like she had failed in some way or another.

Eve’s story is a story of redemption. It’s a story of helping our weaknesses become strengths. And I’m not saying that Cain’s actions were a result of anything Eve did or did not do, because Cain had his agency, and Satan was there tempting him, and his choices were on him. However, as a mom, as someone who knows what it’s like to wonder, “What if I did this?” or “What if I did that?” and start ruminating on all of those mistakes and things I could have possibly done, wondering if that would have made a difference — I imagine Eve probably felt some of those things as well.

We can learn from Eve and from her story, because the Lord was there for her, and He helped her understand that joy of redemption. He helped her have the strength to have more kids even after that, and sometimes that can be really hard to think — “Am I really going to go through this again?” — for someone who had struggled with infertility toward the beginning of my marriage and had a miscarriage, and just the pain that each month would bring. To have the courage to continue in such a journey of having lost and yet trying again is something we can also learn from Eve, right? It takes courage, it takes strength.

The beautiful thing about Eve’s story is that you actually do see that God was there with her throughout her story. We learn about God’s plan from Eve — that we are here to be tested, that we will make mistakes, yet God has given us this beautiful plan of having the Savior to help us overcome these mistakes, to rise, and to be able to make our weaknesses become strengths.

So for those of you who do struggle with ruminating, for those of you who do struggle with feeling like you shouldn’t be making mistakes — remember Eve, and remember how she overcame, and the joy that she found from her redemption. Remember that you are as Eve.

Weakness Made Strong

In Ether 12:27, the Lord tells us that He gives weaknesses to us that we may be humble, and as we put our faith and trust in Him, He will make those weaknesses become strong.

I remember hearing a story of a person who would try to get 40 fails in one month, and he would keep track of all the times he failed. But because he was willing to fail, he was able to overcome and become really successful. By failing, I’m not saying that you purposely go out and sin and make bad decisions — what this means is that you are willing to step outside your comfort zone, that you are willing to try to do what it is the Lord is asking of you, even if that means you are willing to make a mistake in the process of doing the right thing.

So what if you purposely aimed to fail? What if your goal was to get as many failures as possible while trying to succeed — giving it your all, yet at the same time acknowledging, “Hey, I failed. That means I am trying.” Just shifting that perspective of what failure actually means. What if you let go of having a picture-perfect life? What if you embraced both the ups and the downs? How would you learn and grow? How would you connect with others?

What if you moved forward — not purposely making mistakes or sinning, but doing what you can with the knowledge that you have — and when those mistakes happen, understanding that the Lord will help you overcome them, learn, and grow from them. Rather than getting stuck in that shame, you embrace the acknowledgement, the guilt, understanding, and then embrace the Atonement of the Lord into your life.

Moving Forward in Love

Allow yourself to be free. We do that by first acknowledging that what we did was a mistake. Then get curious. Then remind yourself that it’s not the end. Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you have to give up. Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you can’t make things right again — or if it’s something you really can’t go back and fix, remember that the Lord loves you even as you are, and He can help heal those places that seem impossible to heal.

In those moments of grief and pain and loss, the Lord can help us receive the strength and comfort that we need. Instead of looking at our failures and mistakes as things that never should have happened, let us see them as ways that we can grow and learn — helping to build empathy within ourselves for others as we learn to embrace God’s love into our lives, healing those wounds that have been created, and allowing us to move forward in that love.

I will see you next week on the Divine Worth Podcast.

*For paid subscribers on Substack, I’ve included journaling prompts as a companion to this episode. You can download the pdf for those below.

This post has bonus content for paid subscribers. Upgrade to get full access.

Do you ever struggle to truly believe in your own self worth and confidence? In this special season finale episode, Karen walks through a powerful collection of divine worth scriptures that can help you recognize who God sees in you. Whether you're battling self-doubt, fear, or feelings of inadequacy, these scriptures offer a tender reminder that you are known, loved, and called for a purpose. Let this episode be a seed — a starting place for nurturing your belief in your own worth and confidence as a daughter of God.

5 Key Takeaways:

A particle of faith is enough. You only need a desire to believe. Nurture it, and it will grow.

God knew you before you were born. Nothing you face surprises Him. His knowledge of you is personal and complete.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your self worth isn't earned — it was built into you by your Creator.

Your light is meant to shine. Fear and self-doubt dim your confidence. Shifting focus to serving others helps dissolve that fear.

Trust His path over your own. When you lean on the Lord's understanding, your confidence in what you're capable of expands beyond what you imagined.

Resources Mentioned:

Divine Worth Scripture Cards (Free Download): Get your free printable scripture cards to carry these truths with you daily → karenpapin.com/scripturecards

30-Day No Sugar Challenge: Ready to take a bold step toward confidence and clarity? Join the challenge → karenpapin.com/coaching/nosugar

Divine Worth Scripture Journal: Dive deep into 52 scriptures and let your belief in your own self worth and confidence grow week by week → Get it on Amazon

Beloved & Becoming on Substack: I'm pushing myself to step outside my comfort zone, this time through writing. Join me on this journey and also for more encouragement, writing, and faith-filled content, follow Karen on Substack → https://substack.com/@karenpapin

The Divine Worth Podcast will return for Season 3 in the fall — with a brand new focus on women in the scriptures and what their stories reveal about your worth. See you then!

How to Feel It All — Unlocking Emotions to Deepen Your Self Worth and Confidence

What if the emotions you've been avoiding are actually the key to unlocking your deepest self worth and confidence? In this powerful Part 2 with feminine development mentor and professional home organizer Emily Baker, we go deep on the full spectrum of human emotion — from the negative feelings we stuff down to the joy we self-sabotage right at the threshold. Emily shares why emotions are a divinely given guidance system, how Jesus Christ modeled emotional wholeness for us, and how learning to feel your feelings is the very thing that will increase your capacity to experience both God's love and your own worth. If you've ever wondered why joy feels scary or why anger keeps showing up uninvited, this episode is for you.

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Your emotions are a divine guidance system.

Negative emotions signal misalignment. They don't mean something is wrong with you. They are invitations to grow your self worth and confidence from the inside out.

2. Blocking negative emotions also blocks positive ones.

The door to your feelings is either open or closed. Shutting out the hard emotions limits the joy, love, and confidence you can experience.

3. Anger is the emotion we most avoid.

We sugarcoat it, minimize it, or pretend it isn't there. Learning to acknowledge anger — without judgment — is a critical step in building emotional self worth and confidence.

4. We self-sabotage at the threshold of joy.

There is a limit to how much joy we allow ourselves to feel. Expanding that limit requires getting comfortable with who you already are — not who you're striving to become.

5. Christ felt it all — and so can you.

The Atonement is the ultimate example of the full range of human emotion. He experienced every feeling in his body so he could meet you exactly where you are, sorrow and joy alike.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Book: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks — a must-read on upper limiting and how we sabotage our own joy and success

Scripture: 2 Nephi 2:25 — "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."

TV Series: The Chosen — referenced for its portrayal of Christ's everyday joy and emotional fullness

Emily Baker: Feminine development mentor and professional home organizer. Hear her first appearance on Episode 87 of the Divine Worth Podcast.

Want to go deeper in your own journey of self worth and confidence? Grab your free Divine Worth Scripture Cards — a collection of scriptures to remind you of who you truly are as a daughter of God. Get yours at https://www.karenpapin.com/scripturecards

Ready to take a bold step toward feeling better in your body and building the self worth and confidence to show up fully? Join the 30-Day No Sugar Challenge at https://karenpapin.com/coaching/nosugar/ — a simple, supportive reset designed to help you feel like yourself again.

Do you struggle to see your own self worth and confidence the way God sees you? In this episode, Karen Papin shares her personal journey from a girl who could barely speak in a group to someone who now uses her voice every week to uplift women. Through the story of Gideon, the words of Nephi, and powerful scriptures, Karen reminds us that God sees our divine worth and potential long before we do.

5 Key Takeaways

1. God sees your self worth and confidence clearly. He called Gideon a "mighty man of valor" before Gideon believed it himself. He sees the same in you.

2. Growth happens one step at a time. You don't need to see the whole path. One step of faith is enough.

3. Weakness is a gift. God gives us weakness to draw us closer to Him. He turns weak things strong.

4. Your self worth and confidence aren't based on your qualifications. God doesn't call the equipped — He equips the called.

5. This isn't about you — it's about God's children. When you act in faith, the ripple effect touches families, teens, neighbors, and communities.

Resources Mentioned

• Lead Kindly Light — Hymn
• Judges 6 — The story of Gideon
• 1 Nephi 3:7 — "I will go and do..."
• Ether 12:27 — Weakness made strong
• 1 Samuel 16:7 — "The Lord looketh on the heart"
• Proverbs 3:5–6 — "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart"
• Doctrine and Covenants 121:34–36 — Many are called
• Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Women's Conference 2021

Ready to take your next step in building self worth and confidence in God's vision of you?

🎁 Grab your FREE Divine Worth Scripture Cards — a beautiful collection of scriptures to remind you of your worth every single day.👉 karenpapin.com/scripturecards

🍬 Join the 30 Day No Sugar Challenge — if this episode taught you anything, it's that the Lord can help you do hard things. Prove it to yourself. Take that one next step and do this challenge with His help by your side.👉 karenpapin.com/coaching/nosugar

In this episode, Karen chats with Annie Ogden, a comedian, social media strategist, aquarium educator, and aspiring human rights lawyer from Lehi, Utah. In this episode, Annie shares her remarkable journey of letting go of her own plans and discovering that God's plan was far better. Through humor, honesty, and heartfelt storytelling, Annie talks about what it truly means to have divine worth — and how self worth and confidence grow when we stop putting conditions on our value as human beings.

5 Key Takeaways

1. Your worth has no conditions. Divine worth means your soul is beautiful, full stop. Self worth and confidence don't come from what you achieve — they come from who you are as a child of God.

2. Let go of the perfect plan. When Annie surrendered her acting dreams, God opened doors she never imagined. Real self worth and confidence grow when we trust His plan over our own.

3. Self-love and divine love work together. On days when self worth and confidence feel impossible, God's love is the backup. He loves you even when you can't love yourself.

4. Talk to God like a friend. Honest, real prayer — even the messy, scary thoughts — deepens your relationship with Him and strengthens your sense of divine worth.

5. Try the mirror challenge. Look at yourself and say: "I am awesome. I am a child of God. He knows me. He loves me." It sounds simple, but it can shift how you see yourself completely.

Resources Mentioned

• Hebrews 12:2 – Annie's featured scripture: "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."
• Romans 8 – "Who can separate us from the love of God?"
• "Promptings of the Spirit" – Talk by Elder Gary E. Stevenson (October 2023 General Conference), including the mirror affirmation challenge
• Dance in My Armor Podcast – Annie has also been featured there
• Annie's Instagram: @ogden_annie
• Religious Freedom for All Instagram: @religiousfreedomforall
• Annie's YouTube Channel: Halley-yeah (H-A-L-L-E-Y-E-A-H)

Continue your divine worth journey:✨ Grab your FREE Divine Worth Scripture Cards — a beautiful reminder of your self worth and confidence in Christ. Download them at 👉 karenpapin.com/scripturecards

🍬 Ready for a reset? Join the 30 Day No Sugar Challenge and take a powerful step toward caring for the body God gave you. Sign up at 👉 karenpapin.com/coaching/nosugar