“If life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” This advice, which has a happy resonance during the dog days of summer, is meant to encourage anyone who is going through a rough spot. Sour things can, and should, be turned into something sweet. What this adage leaves out, though, is crucial: Where does one get the water and the sugar and the ice? Without them there is no cool, refreshing lemonade. No happy ending to a bitter experience. We are simply left with our trouble and toil.

God made us in his image. We enjoy free will and intelligence. We also possess energy and willpower. When a bushel basket of lemons is unexpectedly dumped on the doorstep of our lives, it is best to gather them up and put the basket to one side; then we can begin the search for what we need to make lemonade. We set out to transform what is bitter into something sweet and refreshing. We do not resign ourselves to the defeatist attitude of the man who complains, “All I get in life is lemons! Woe is me!” And then does nothing but wail and lament.

Sadness and self-pity when things do not go our way are heavy burdens that deprive us of peace of soul. If God loves me, then why do I feel the way I do? The answer is that God does indeed love you. He knows of your sorrows, and he wants to help you deal with the difficulties of life. He is there to assist you in making something good out of a bad situation. The cause of our sadness can also become the occasion for finding countermeasures to draw good out of something we wished had not happened.

This summer I read Admiral William H. McRaven’s short motivational book Make Your Bed—Little Things That Can Change Your Life . . . And Maybe the World. McRaven draws on his experience as a US Navy SEAL to remind us that great things in life depend on how we deal with particular challenges and difficulties. There is no short supply of lemon experiences. SEAL training is based on subjecting the candidates to a rigorous regime of unpleasant and often infuriating situations. Those who figure out how to adapt to a problem and commit to overcoming the challenge are rewarded with advancement towards becoming a SEAL.

Life is not about doing the impossible. God does not ask that of us. But God does command us to do many things that our fallen nature shies away from. St. Paul tells us: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13) God’s grace is powerful. It is also enlightening. When we need to find water, sugar and ice, it is time to pray and get our feet moving. The prospect of a sweet sip of lemonade, combined with a laser focus on obtaining what we need to arrive at that moment, transforms sadness and self-pity into pure and grateful enjoyment of cooling refreshment. And the happiness we then feel in no small measure comes from having overcome our complacent resistance to doing what it takes to find a solution to a challenge. Accomplishment is the fruit of our own efforts to make good use of the grace God bestows on us.

The arrival of lemons is the signal from God that it is time to start looking for what we need to make lemonade. The effort to do so is God’s moment of encouragement and teaching. Life is what we make of it when we decide to break away from all that holds us back.

I hope you will enjoy cool, refreshing lemonade this summer, and beyond.