Scripture is more than ink on paper. It is God’s voice, His living Word, and it has the power to infuse our hearts with hope in a way nothing else can. Whenever our pain or circumstances blind us to God’s presence, love, counsel and peace, we can still find Him in the pages of the Bible. His Word can light the way through the darkness. It is the treasure at our fingertips.

To give you a head start in discovering this treasure for yourself, we want to share with you some of the priceless gems uncovered by some of your fellow sojourners.

Rick Rood calls the Word of God,"a river of grace to my heart." Shortly after his wife was diagnosed with a debilitating illness, Rick found the following Scripture passage that became both a light for his path and instruction for the journey.
Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Psalm 55:22 (NASB)

Lucy MacIntosh sensed and feared the destructive power in the darkness she faced. During those desperate days, she clung to Jeremiah 29:11 because "this verse promised me that God’s plans for good could not be destroyed. Since that time, this has become my life verse."
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

After her injury, there were many times when Ruth Miller could not read Scripture."I was so angry at God’s lack of action," she explains, that "until I could handle reading Scripture, which came after about a year, every day I read just two verses: Psalm 31:14-15.These two verses gave me focus through my tears."
But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Psalm 31:14-15 (KJV)

Joanie Thompson considers Isaiah 50:4 to be one of the most important verses in her life, especially during times of suffering. It gives her hope that God will use her suffering to alleviate the suffering of others.
The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. Isaiah 50:4

When she was too sick to read her Bible, Michelle Dacus posted 1 Peter 5:10 -11 on her bathroom mirror and on her nightstand."Those verses reminded me that God would do something powerful with my suffering. It gave me hope that my pain wouldn’t be wasted."
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. 1 Peter 5:10-11

"As Dave and I walked through the darkness" Jan Dravecky recalls,"the Bible became our lifeline, the compass that steered us through the confusion and doubts that are part of the darkness…The verse that comforted me most in my darkest days was John 10:27-29. Dave clung to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, which later became the guiding verse for the Outreach of Hope."
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:27-29

This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me. Psalm 119:50 (NASB)

Ruth Miller quote from Lessons From the Washing Machine, Living with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy—Chronic Pain by Ruth L.S. Miller, Pleasant Word, a division of WinePress Publishing, Enumclaw,WA.