I used to hear that when people hoped for something, say love, it never happened (at least not immediately) and after a few false alarms, they gave up hope - and then it happened when they were least expecting it

In a faith based perspective, you pray for something - you know in your mind it is according to His timeline not yours -

And then one day it happens - and you are like wow - you can see all the little things that had to align and fall together or apart for this one thing to manifest - it is truly amazing