We Are Never at the End…
Until We Are

I know that sentence can sound heavy, but I actually find it freeing.

We are never at the end, until we are.

Maybe you’re reading this today and you are discouraged. For whatever reason, you you feel you’ve come to the end of something.

Maybe it’s your leadership journey, your marriage, your calling, or the end of what God can do with any issue you are struggling with. And, it’s very likely that you are wrong about this.

Be careful with statements like:

• “Nothing is ever going to change.”

• “This is how it will always be.”

• “I’m done.”

• “It’s too late.”

• “I’ve tried everything.”

Because unless God has actually said it’s finished, you are still in the middle.

And the middle can feel messy, and unclear and utterly discouraging..
But the middle is not the end.

There Is Always One More Faithful Step

Sometimes you don’t need a five-year plan. Sometimes you just need one more faithful step.

Back when I was in the process of searching for both my birth parents, I would often remind myself, “There’s always something left to do.” The journey of searching for each of them was years long, and arduous. There were times if felt like there was nothing left to do but the truth was, there was always something yet to do, and every time I did that “something” it unlocked the door to another vital step in the process of finding them.

In my search for my birth mother, the court system essentially said, “Once this case is closed, it will never be opened again.” And I took that as gospel truth. But two years later, I realized something: even though the court had said no—and even though my birth mother had said no at the time—God had not said no. So I started pursuing again… because until God says a thing is over, it’s not over.

So what do you need today? One more prayer? (We all need that!)
One more conversation. One more counseling session. One more attempt. One more walk. One more conversation with someone. One more act of obedience.

This is how God often leads us…not by showing us the whole staircase, but by giving us light for the next step. And every next step counts.

You’ve been strong, faithful, patient, persistent, and gone longer with this thing than anyone would ever expect you to. And I’m here to tell you that one of the most important things is who you are becoming in the process. There’s still things left to learn, to try, to surrender, to hope for and to pray for.  And most importantly…there is still something left for God to do. 

Don’t Confuse a Closed Door with a Closed Story

One of the enemy’s most convincing tricks is to make you believe that a delay means denial. Or that silence means abandonment. Or that a closed door means you’re finished.

But God is a Master at working behind the scenes. He is not limited by timelines, paperwork, people, distance, or complexity. He is not threatened by what you don’t know. And He is not intimidated by what you can’t fix.

Sometimes what feels like the end… is simply the moment right before the next layer of the story opens up.

One thing I’ve realized in retrospect, looking back over all the miracles in my life, is this: whenever I felt “stuck,” God was actually adding another layer to my story—one that would later become one of the most miraculous parts to testify about. The worse things look, the greater the opportunity for Him to reveal His glory.

There’s Always Something Left to Do

So if you’re tempted to quit, and you’re feeling tired, and staring at a problem that feels impossible, hold on to this…

There’s always something left to do.

When I was searching for my birth mom, I came to a point where I truly believed I had reached the end of everything I knew to do. That night, I lay in bed praying and trying to fall asleep, and the Holy Spirit spoke so clearly: “Get up. Turn on the lamp on your nightstand. And start re-reading the book You Too Can Find Anyone by Joseph J. Culligan.”

I had already read that book multiple times and followed every step it laid out—except for two. One felt so outlandish I was sure it could never work, and the other seemed impossible because I simply couldn’t afford it.

And the Lord said, “There you go. Those are your two things.”

I didn’t know how it would come together, but the next morning I got up and did the first one. I called the Salvation Army and asked if they could help me locate someone. They told me that if I had been adopted, they wouldn’t be able to assist. But when I asked about the second option—the one I assumed would cost a fortune—the woman on the phone told me about a place in California where I could get it for a fraction of the price.

And it was that one step… that opened the final door to finding her.

There’s always something left to do.

Hope is still possible.

And God is still moving.

Your story isn’t over.

We are never at the end, until we are.