This poem, attributed to John Clifford, has long served as an encouraging word to me. I hope you find it does the same for you.

Last eve I paused beside the blacksmith’s door,

and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;

Then looking in, I saw upon the floor,

old hammers, worn with beating years of time

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,

“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,

“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”

And so, I thought, the anvil of God’s Word

For ages skeptic’s blows have beat upon;

Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,

The anvil’s unharmed, the hammers, gone.