I would like to share a short story a friend forwarded to me and then ask three questions about the story.  The story goes like this.  In November of 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the great violinist, was to give a performance in the Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York City.  Perlman had contracted polio as a child, so getting on stage took quite an effort. He had braces on both legs and needed crutches to get around.  With great effort he came on stage. Most in
the audience were aware of this ritual. Slowly and painfully he came on stage.  He sat down, put the crutches on the floor, unfastened the braces on his legs and set them aside and then moved his legs so he could perform. He picked up his violin and nodded to the conductor that he was ready. This is what always happened at each of his concerts. As he began to play this time, however, it was not like all of his other performances. Something terrible went wrong. There was a sharp pop like a gunshot. The audience knew exactly what happened. One of the strings on his violin had snapped. What would he do? If he went off stage it would take many effort filled minutes to put the braces back on, retrace those difficult steps and return to put on another string. What would Perlman do? He sat
quietly for some time. Then, he placed his violin back under his chin. He signaled the conductor that he was ready. He proceeded to do what seemed impossible. The orchestra began and Itzhak Perlman played with passion and power the symphonic masterpiece that few could play with four strings on their violin---let alone just three. He
seemed to do the impossible as he modulated, changed and
re-composed the piece in his head. His violin put forth sounds that it had never made before. When the music ended, there was complete silence. Then, everyone was on their feet screaming and cheering to show their appreciation for what he had done. Itzhak Perlman lifted his bow for silence.  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 statement that is!

       My first question is this.  All of us will have times in our lives when no matter how hard and how well we have prepared for what we want to accomplish, expecting to have all our talents and resources ready to be used (all four strings), will find that we will face disaster in the difficulties, set backs, defeats, discouragements,
injuries and losses. What will we do when we find that we have limited resources (three stings) for the task before us?

     My second question is this.  When you participate in athletics, you are faced all the time with this challenge because that is the very nature of sports. There is always some kind of an opponent facing you that wants to discourage, distract, and defeat you. There are those who want to block your very best shot, beat you when you run your very best time, or bring you down when you are just about to cross the goal line. Few teams or individuals ever go through a season without a defeat. It seems that there always comes a time when one of the strings breaks. And what will you do? Will you give up? Will you quit? Will you make excuses? Will you blame God for not helping you? Or will you say like Itzhak Perlman said, "You know, sometimes it will be by your task to see what you can still accomplish with what you have left?"

    My third question is this. Our hope here at Valley Christian is to win every race, victory, title, or crown. Just as the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, "Do you not know that on the race track there are many competitors who run, but only one wins the prize. I, Paul, give you this encouragement. Run with your minds
fixed on winning the prize!"  Paul was saying to his Christian friends, "Be the very best you can be." Paul goes on to say that, "Every competitor in an athletic event goes into serious training to win a crown that does not last."  And, he also goes on to say that when he  talks about training to be a great athlete it is as an example of what our Christian life should be like. Later in this letter Paul says, II Corinthians. 4:7- "There will trouble on every side but we are not distressed, we will be perplexed but we will not be driven to despair, there will be persecution but God will not forsake us, we will be driven to our knees but never destroyed. All of this will happen to us so that the very life of Jesus Christ may be evident in our own lives." 

     I think the point of the story about Itzhak Perlman for the Christian is this---when we are down, discouraged, despairing and apparently defeated, will we choose to allow the mighty power of Jesus to be evident in our lives? After all, the victory I would wish for each of us here at Valley Christian is that we be the visible image of the invisible Christ to a world that is struggling with defeats and apparent disaster. The great thing for each of us who choose to "take up our cross and follow Jesus," is that we will win ---even with three strings. The Bible tells us this: GOD WINS!  And that means that we, as Christians, will win, too"..."For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

Coach Hitch