James 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord… Troubles are often the tools by which God fashions us for better things. Far up the mountain. side lies a block of granite, and says to itself, "How happy am I in my serenity — above the winds, above the tree, almost above the flight of the birds! Here I rest age after age, and nothing disturbs me!" Yet what is it? It is only a bare block of granite, jutting out of the cliff, and its happiness is the happiness of death. By and by comes the miner, and with strong and repeated strokes he drills a hole in its top, and the rock says, "What does this mean?" Then the black powder is poured in, and with a blast that makes the mountain echo the block is blown asunder, and goes crashing down into the valley. "Ah!" it exclaims, as it falls, why this rending?" Then some one saws to cut and fashion it; and humbled now, and willing to be nothing, it is borne away from the mountain and conveyed to the city. Now it is chiselled and polished, till, at length, finished in beauty, by block and tackle it is raised with mighty hoistings, high in the air, to be the top-stone on some monument of the country's glory. (H. W. Beecher.) Parallel Verses KJV: Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. |
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