Someone said: ‘The secret of success is to be like a duck – smooth and unruffled on top, and paddling furiously underneath.’ Niccolò Paganini, the well-known nineteenth-century violinist, illustrated the truth of this. His most memorable concert was marked by ‘furious paddling under the surface’ rather than easy success. The concert was performed with a full orchestra before a packed house in Italy. Those who heard him play say his technique was incredible and his tone fantastic. Towards the end of the concert, he was astounding his audience with a very difficult composition, when one string on his violin suddenly snapped and hung limply from his instrument. Paganini frowned only briefly, shook his head, and continued to play, improvising beautifully. Then, to everyone’s surprise, including Paganini’s, a second string broke. Shortly thereafter, a third string snapped. It seemed like a slapstick comedy routine as Paganini stood before the awed crowd with three strings dangling from his Stradivarius violin. But instead of leaving the stage to repair his instrument, he stood firm. He calmly completed the difficult number on the one remaining string – a performance that won him applause, admiration, and enduring fame. Here’s another saying: ‘It’s when the going gets tough, that the tough get going!’ Paul was such a man: ‘Forgetting the past and straining towards what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above.’ All of us who are spiritually mature should think this way too. So don’t give up; keep going!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.