Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

For the last nine months, my street has been under construction. Usually, the city would spend a few days or weeks repaving a road, but this construction started in March with an anticipated deadline of mid June. My street just happens to be part of a big scheme to route a giant storm sewer to the river.

Though all summer there was a giant Komatsu 700 backhoe parked in front of my house where my car used to be parked, I had a pretty good attitude about the construction. Even though there was a gaping 38-foot hole in my front yard, and every time the Komatsu moved my house shook, I was ok with it because I was anticipating the final result—a new street.

For years, my street had been covered with potholes, and it had the unique feature of not being flat. It sloped with the hill. This created many catastrophes in the winter as cars would suddenly slide into the curb. During the biggest snowstorm last year, there were 11 cars stuck because of the unfortunate sloping street.

So I was ok with the quaking, the 6 a.m. work crew (which became my new alarm clock), trudging through mud to get to my mailbox, and parking far away—until August.

One day in August, I snapped. I had been blocked in by dump trucks one too many times. I thought, enough is enough. The project is now months overdue. I am done having a good attitude.

If only I would have known that the final touches would not be completed until December. But my hope had been deferred.

I do this with eternal things. I get more obsessed with my own timeline that I lose sight of God’s overarching plan for me and for the world. But his plan is for his son’s return.

Behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominions is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14