When you have a lemon, make lemonade. 

Julius Rosenwald

One of my favorite stories is about a man who bought a farm in Florida that didn't quite live  up to his expectations. When he arrived and actually looked at the farm, he found a worthless piece of land that was unfit for growing crops or raising livestock. As if that weren't bad enough, the entire property was filled with rattlesnakes. He was, to say the least, discouraged.

Now if the story ended here it wouldn't be much of a story. Had he done what many would do today he might have taken the sellers to court and sued them for misrepresentation. He might have blamed the government for not adequately protecting the public from unscrupulous real estate men or blamed God for not adequately protecting him from his own bad decisions. Instead, the man made lemonade.

After his initial disappointment, he sat down and figured out what he had. Since the only thing he had in abundance was rattlesnakes, he decided to do something with them. He began canning the meat and soon was shipping it all over the world. He sold the skins to be made into boots and handbags. He started selling the venom to the medical community, which then turned it into life-saving anti-venom. Tens of thousands of tourists visited his ranch in "Rattlesnake, Florida" every year. It became quite the lemonade stand.

I believe the reason that people such as this man are so impressive is that they are just like us: They have bad luck from time to time. What often sets them apart from us is that they do not wallow in their misfortune - instead, they do something about it. They look for the opportunity instead of indulging in self-pity.

It can be the same with us. When we can begin to transform life's lemons from something that makes sour-faced puckers into something that creates sweet smiles, then maybe we can begin to take a small amount of satisfaction that we are using this life in the right way. It is when we seize opportunity from the smoldering ashes of misfortune, that our lives begin to become what God has intended for them to be all along.

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 

Ephesians 5:15-16, NIV