Billy Graham tells about a friend who lost his job, his fortune, his wife and his home during the Depression. However, he held steadfastly to his faith—the only thing he had left.

One day he stopped to watch some men working on a huge church building. A stonemason was chiseling a triangular piece of stone. “What are you going to do with that?” he asked. The workman replied, “See that little opening way up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this down here, so it will fit in up there.”

Tears filled the man’s eyes as he walked away. It seemed as if God had spoken to him through the stonemason to explain the ordeal through which he was passing—“I’m shaping you down here, so you will fit in up there.”

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”—James 1:2-4.