Joy and hardship often must co-exist together. They are not mutually exclusive. If you wait until there is no hardship in your life to have joy, you will go your whole life without it. In the book of Philippians, Paul exhorts us to joy while he is in prison, chained to a Roman guard. His future is uncertain. His circumstances unfair. To make matters worse, others are using his imprisonment to take advantage of Paul and his situation. There is little that remains for Paul, except that Paul has a wildcard. His name is Jesus.

Years ago, the great violinist, Itzhak Perlman, was playing a concert when one of the strings on his violin broke with a loud crack, and everyone heard it. So the conductor stopped, and he waited for Perlman to put on his new string, but Perlman told the conductor to start over. He played the concert with only three strings on his violin. He modulated and improvised. He recomposed and changed the piece as he went, even retuning strings as they played along.

At the end of the piece, the audience gave him a standing ovation, recognizing His genius. After the concert, he stepped to the microphone and said, "It is my gift and my joy to make music with what remains."

I don’t know what hardship you are facing. I don’t know what has been taken from you or what remains. I don’t know what strings have been broken in your life. But it is God's gift and His joy to make music with what remains. He can make new music in that marriage of yours. He can make new music in that career of yours. He can make new music in that broken heart of yours. The music isn't inferior because of the broken strings. The music becomes even more beautiful because it reveals the genius of the Master and Savior whose work in your life is far from finished.

Join us this weekend as we discuss the secret to joy, even in hardship.

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