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When problems come our way trying to bring us down, we are to remember the
promise of the Lord and get it in our mind that we will persevere. The
Bible declares in Romans 8:31-32, "What shall we then say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give
us all things?" No matter what hardships come your way, get it in your
mind that you will be victorious and triumphant at the end no matter how
discouraged you may feel right now. Always keep in mind that God loves you
and is with you even in the midst of the storm. Stand strong and know that
He has not and will not leave your side. Rejoice in His goodness and know
that in God's sight All is well. (Philippians 1:3-6) (Hebrews 13:5-6)
I hope you are blessed and encouraged by today's message.
THREE STRINGS
On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a
concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you
have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no
small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so
he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches.
To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly,
is an unforgettable sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he
reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the
floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the
other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it
under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.
By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he
makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent
while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.
But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few
bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap -- it
went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that
sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.
People who were there that night thought to themselves: "We figured that
he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and
limp his way off stage -- to either find another violin or else find
another string for this one."
But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then
signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played
from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power
and such purity as they had never heard before. Of course, anyone knows
that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I
know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to
know that.
You could see him modulating, changing, recomposing the piece in his head.
At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new
sounds from them that they had never made before.
When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then
people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause
from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming
and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated
what he had done.
He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and
then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, "You
know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can
still make with what you have left."
What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard
it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the [way] of life - not just for
artists, but for all of us.
So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in
which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then,
when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.
By Jack Riemer
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
1 Corinthians 3:8-9 "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and
every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we
are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building."
Psalm 23:1-4 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He
restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His
name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they
comfort me."
Psalm 37:1-5 "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou
envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down
like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do
good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of
thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall
bring it to pass."
Philippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but
this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: YOU MUSTN'T QUIT
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem157.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: PAULA'S TESTIMONY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony53.htm
In Christ's Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
