When trials push us to our very limits, does God offer us encouragement to get through them? Absolutely. Of course we must do our part to be close to God through prayer, Bible study, fasting and meditation.

However, when the heat from fiery trials gets cranked up several notches (think Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace) and Satan's fiery darts seem to be firing at us constantly, is there a secret weapon that we can use? Yes. We can haul out our secret arsenal of big guns—our collection of hope scriptures.

There are many, many encouraging scriptures that are scattered throughout the Holy Bible. Our "secret arsenal" must include the most powerful, meaningful-to-us, hope-filled scriptures that we can find after scouring the pages of God's Word.

Use those scriptures to which you have a deep, meaningful connection—those that are directly relevant to you. For example, mothers who have lost a child may be in tears when they think about the meaningful scriptures on the second resurrection and the Last Great Day. However, those of us who have not gone through such a sad experience—although we may sympathize/empathize with the tragedy—may not have the same level of intensity about the topic.

The key is to find scriptures that are deeply meaningful to us personally and then, when the overwhelming trials hit, we can haul out those scriptures and watch as they neutralize Satan's darts. This idea is based on Romans 15:4, which states, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (New American Standard Bible throughout). It is helpful to remember that God is the God of hope (Romans 15:13) and the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). Jesus Christ is in heaven constantly interceding for us. He is available for rescue operations 24 hours a day, every day of the week.

What scriptures should be included in our individual arsenals of hope? It will vary from person to person. However, the following scriptures are a good start.

Psalm 34:17: "The righteous cry and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles."

Psalm 34:19: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all."

1 Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it."

2 Corinthians 7:6: "But God, who comforts the depressed [KJV: "those that are cast down"; Moffatt: "dejected"], comforted us by the coming of Titus."

2 Corinthians 12:9: "And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you [New English Bible: "all you need"], for [My] power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me."

Hebrews 13:5: "For He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'"

The Holy Bible is chock-full of scriptures that are encouraging and give hope. Start your own personal stockpile of those powerful, meaningful scriptures of hope. Write them down. Keep them close at hand. And when the trials start coming fast and furious, haul them out and let God's Word of hope quench Satan's darts of discouragement.