Flip the Happy Switch

"They" can take away from us anything they want. But they can't take away our attitude. The great violinist Niccolo Paganini, regarded as the greatest of his time in the 1800s, gave us a wonderful example of this. Not only did he battle against his health, including tuberculosis, he also had to make a major adjustment in one of his concertos.

Playing in front of a packed audience, the first of his strings broke, and he kept playing without missing a beat. Another broke, he kept playing, another broke he kept playing, and he was down to one string. Story is, he not only finished on that one string but played an encore on it. Needless to say, he received a rousing standing ovation.

The Apostle Paul gave us his one string concerto when he spoke of his attitude of gratitude no matter what was going on in his life. In Philippians 4:12-13 it says: I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

Paul's one string was THE one thing, Jesus Christ. He flipped the happy switch every day of his life even after he faced much despair, persecution, and multiple hardships. His strings of education, scholar and standing in life were stripped away only to be left with that one and only string. He proved that attitude is a choice, and we can look at it as down to our last string, or we have one string left to play with all of our heart.

Oh and that last string, if it is THE string, we can do all the rest of the things, even if that's the only one we can play with. Our attitude then becomes all about gratitude.

Clap - clap - clap! That's the angels giving you a standing O! Keep on playing!