*Author’s Note: This is an account of my personal experience. I do not fully know what all is entailed in road construction, so everything I recount is subject to exaggeration.

Nothing beats cursing down the German Autobahn at a 130 kph (about 72 mph), the radio turned up and the green hills rolling by effortlessly. You feel untouchable as you zip past trucks, and a brief surge of racing adrenaline courses through your veins with an expensive looking Audi races past you. But then, suddenly, you pass a sign with a blinking arrow, and next thing you know, you’re surrounded by stop-go traffic in one lane. A part of you glares harshly at the yellow lines and orange cones that signal a construction zone.
I encounter this feeling all too often as I drive about in Germany. I yearn for those no-speed-limit zones only to find myself surrounded by construction. And because the Germans take forever and a day to clear out, I’ve gained a fairly rudimentary understanding of how they work.
First, the workers tear up the road. And I don’t just mean the top layer. They destroy the cement and asphalt all the way down the dirt foundation. What could be days or months (depending on the road’s condition and usage), the dirt just lays there. I have no idea why they do that, but just when one gives up hope of ever seeing the construction finished, a worker appears. Then another, and before long the dirt foundation is being dug up and relaid. Then they lay down about three layers of asphalt. Once that’s dried, they tear up those layers and place a new one. The process seems endless, as if they’re just trying to make needless work for themselves. But finally, after months or even years (and this is not an exaggeration), the road is open. The speed limits are removed and the Autobahn returns to its racing thrill.
Life can be a lot like this. Like the Autobahn, you have a smooth ride, the occasional pothole packed tight with cement. It’s not pretty nor perfect, but serves its purpose well. Then suddenly, God sends a construction team to tear apart your life, wreaking havoc across what you thought was a perfectly acceptable existence. The smooth cruise turns into agonizing traffic, your mind overwhelmed with stress, fear, and depression. For months, your life just sits in the dirt foundation, exposed to the elements and slowly weathering away. Then God picks up his shovel and starts digging into your foundation, relaying the dirt until it’s suitable to build upon. He lays a new layer of growth, typically in the form of peace and repentance, then tears it up as you become complacent. For many years, He tears up the layers until they are placed perfectly in the strongest and best way. Then, with a final sweep of debris, He opens the road again. As you sail down it at faster speeds than you’ve ever gone, you realize just how poor your original road was, how smooth this new road is, and how agonizingly long (but totally worth it) the construction was.
My friend, if God has placed construction barriers around your life, just know that He is working. And when He’s done, you won’t even remember how bad things were before.