AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING 157 



which composed them arranged in such a way that 

 they would not have been so useful to us as the 

 rocks we have now. 



But God was getting the world ready for us to 

 live upon, and the constant rain was helping Him, as 

 you shall hear in another story. 



When the soUd earth began to rise above the sur- 

 face of the vast, surging ocean it began to look like 

 a world. The rocks were like some that help to 

 make our own country. In fact it was our own coun- 

 try of North America that first showed itself above 

 the encircling waters. 



So the world, our world as we find it now, was be- 

 ginning to grow, and, although there was nothing 

 alive anywhere even yet over its whole surface, the 

 Spirit of God was moving over it. That Spirit was 

 there then, just as it is here now. In obedience to 

 His thought and His laws the world changed and 

 grew until it was ready for life to appear. 



Always from the beginning God has been with 

 this wonderful world of ours. His Spirit it was that 

 moved over and through and in it. He is with the 

 world now, He has been with the world since its be- 

 ginning, and He will be with the world forever. 



