Construction zones

I feel like the highways in the area are in perpetual states of construction.

And, to be honest, that's a pretty accurate description of all of us, as well.

Road construction can be so frustrating, because it often causes major delays and traffic buildups. A lot of people are pretty time urgent and like to think the rest of the world should be operating on their schedules, so you can imagine the thoughts we have and actions we take when faced with these construction zones. After all, most of us are probably guilty of being, well, not the greatest of people when we spot those daunting orange signs.

And then come the detours.

Welcome to the fun zone.

I don't like detours. I have a hard enough time trying to navigate my way to places on normal paths, and my maps app doesn't really know when detours are going to throw curve balls into the plans laid out before me. Changing up routes just adds more time and frustration to already disliked situations.

What's even worse about road construction and all that ensues from it is that there is really nothing you can do about it. You're helpless. Maybe that's one reason why people honk so much and yell things behind their closed doors and rolled-up windows: it puts just a little bit of power back into their hands.

The truth is, though, is that we live a good portion of our lives in construction zones. God is constantly working on our hearts and changing us. We face so many detours that there is no way Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps or any other mapping service could possibly give you a route that makes sense. He's the only One who knows what it is, and—just like when you're sitting in a never-ending line of cars suffering through what seems like a giant parking lot of cars traveling at 7 mph—all you can do is wait.

Recently, some of the construction that was going on near where I live finally finished, and roads opened up. As expected, it made things so much better. I'd like to think that a lot more people are smiling while their driving now, instead of secretly cursing the cars in front of them that didn't speed up through those yellow lights.

That's the hope we can have: with all of the construction occurring in us and all around our lives, better things are on the way. We are being perfected by the moment, and God's going to make sure that we become the best we can be.

It's not always fun to go through the work, alternate routes and traffic jams to get there, but it's definitely worth it.