I’ve got a tree in my front yard that was planted around the time the house was built, which means it’s been there about seven years. This tree has potential, but it’s one of those trees that’s going through that awkward stage—not fully grown but not really a sapling—so it looks kind of gangly. Kind of like a teenager anxiously awaiting nature to kick in to move beyond pimples and baby fat.

This morning, I was looking at it and couldn’t help noticing how a bit of a transformation has occurred. It’s looking fuller and really green. It looks like a tree as opposed to a bush on steroids, and it’s kind of cool because it’s the first thing you see when you look at my front yard.

I’m sure it’s due in part to the amount of rain we’ve receive during the past couple of weeks; and as I was contemplating all this, I felt the Holy Ghost remind me how necessary rain is.

In a way, rain is kind of like adversity. Usually when it’s raining, we’re looking outside like kids and wishing we could go outside and play. It’s grey and overcast and there’s something kind of dreary about the whole thing. On the other hand, blue skies and sunshine seem to invoke a cheery disposition; so given those two dynamics, rain tends to represent a bit of an inconvenience.

Physical training can be an inconvenience. Shoot. For that matter, adversity is inconvenient in that we’re never really open to it. We would much rather bask in the sunshine of what affirms us and makes us comfortable. Success, however sunny it may be, cannot do what rain does. However grey and dismal it may appear to be at the time, we’ve got to drink that rain in if we’re going to move beyond that awkward sapling stage and become a mighty oak that makes people want to know how to grow strong and endure for years (1 Peter 3:15).

Speaking of adversity, let me offer a delicious piece of misery you’ll really enjoy. This is called “Dippin’ Hammers.” You can see it by heading to YouTube. This is an exercise that will work out several muscle groups at a time and give you one magnificent bang for your buck—kind of like a deluge of quality! That’s what I’m talking about.

Remember, the workouts God gives us in our lives are just that. Trials compel us to flex our faith in a way that brings us closer to God and makes us stronger. Sometimes it’s a little nuisance, other times it’s a compound exercise such as the one referenced above. Either way, there’s a purpose and a benefit. So never mind the umbrella. Forget about staying inside.  Get out there and embrace the precipitation! As they say in the Marine Corps: “It ain’t trainin’ if it ain’t rainin'”!

Bring it!