“Be of good courage,

He will strengthen our heart,

all you who hope in the Lord.

PSALM 31:24”

“For a concert violinist,

strength is four finely tuned strings;

the absence of a string

would put most violinists

in a position of weakness.

But Israeli-American violinist

Itzhak Perlman is not most violinists.

And Perlman knows something

about weakness to begin with.

Afflicted with polio as a child,

he wears braces on both legs

and walks with the help of crutches.

Getting on stage and seated for

a concert is no small matter.

One evening in 1995,

while performing with an orchestra

in New York City,

one of the strings on his violin broke

It hung limp

off the side of the instrument.

The loud Snap!

ricocheted through the hall;

it was obvious to everyone

what had just happened.

The audience, as well as

the conductor and orchestra,

assumed they would pause

the concert

while Perlman repaired,

or replaced, his instrument.

Instead, the great violinist

closed his eyes for a moment

while the audience waited in silence,

then motioned to the conductor

to begin the piece again.

What would be impossible for all

but a few human beings—

playing a violin concert

with four good strings—

was translated into something

no one else could have done:

play the same concert

with only three strings.

As he played, in his mind

Perlman was adjusting,

recomposing, innovating,

and performing on the fly,

turning a position of weakness

into a performance of strength.

Itzhak Perlman’s lifetime

of familiarity with the violin

allowed him to turn

a moment of defeat

into a masterful victory.

We have to develop the resources

we need to adjust,

We must recompose,

We must innovate,

We must prevail

when confronted with

our own challenges.

This means

knowing the source of strength

that allows that to happen.

Our strength is in God,

not ourselves .

Stopping the “concert” of our life

is not an option

when we feel weak

or overwhelmed.

We have to diligently open our heart

to the Lord

and ask for His strength,

He will fill us with it!

He’s promised too.

It is through our faith,

the Lord will use our weakness

to make us strong.”

“Be of good courage,

and He will strengthen our heart,

all you who hope in the Lord.

PSALM 31:24”