The Storm Stage: Why Growth Happens When Nothing Seems to Be Working

The Storm Stage: Why Growth Happens When Nothing Seems to Be Working

There’s a part of me that hates rain.

As I sit here this morning, watching it pour outside my window, I know for sure my mid-morning tee time is canceled. I hate that it throws off my plans to take my dog on his daily multi-mile walk. It makes triathlon training miserable, forcing me onto the indoor bike instead of letting me take in the lake or the open road. There’s a lot I dislike about rain.

But what I hate most? It forces me to slow down.

And maybe that’s exactly why we need it.

We live in a world that shouts, "Go, go, go! Faster, faster, faster! More, more, more!" We’ve been led to believe that speed equals success—that the harder we grind, the faster the results will come. We hold onto this outdated version of the “American Dream,” thinking that effort alone guarantees a straight path to success.

And while hard work does pay off, we’ve been conned into a false cause-and-effect belief about how growth actually happens.

When things aren’t working, we assume we just need to push harder. But what if that’s not the case?

Look at any plant or crop in nature. There’s a season for planting, and we all recognize the harvest—the moment when effort finally bears fruit. But what we often overlook is the dead period—that in-between stage when nothing seems to be happening. This is the storm stage of life.

The rains come, and nothing appears to be growing. But beneath the surface, real transformation is taking place. The rain is feeding the roots, strengthening them, preparing them to support the growth that’s coming. Without this phase—without the storms—there’s no harvest.

And you and I are no different.

Maybe you’re in a season where it feels like one storm after another. Setback after setback. Adversity piling on top of adversity.

Be thankful.

These moments are watering your roots, strengthening the foundation beneath you, ensuring that when your time comes, you won’t just grow—you’ll thrive.

Just like digging up a seed too soon will kill its potential, rushing your dreams before they’ve had time to absorb the lessons, the storms, the growth… will do the same.

It will all happen in time.

The tears on your pillowcase are watering the dreams of tomorrow.

Keep going.

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