We read the Bible stories verse to verse, chapter to chapter, and we miss something critical — the white spaces in between. The twenty-five years between the promise and Isaac. The thirteen years Joseph spent in the pit, the prison, and finally the throne. David anointed as a teenager, waiting until he was thirty to sit on the throne he had been promised.
Joseph didn't know chapter 50 when he was living chapter 37.
And neither did I.
When my dad died in a car wreck, I didn't realize my Heavenly Father would draw me closer.
When I finished Bible School without joining a church staff, I didn't realize God had other plans to reach others through what I would walk through.
When I received a traumatic brain injury and slurred my speech, had vision, memory, and balance problems for years, I couldn't see how God would completely heal me and use that as a testimony.
When my first marriage at age twenty-three ended shortly after it started due to an unsuccessful pregnancy, I couldn't see my wife of twenty-five years in the future.
After seven years of marriage, global financial collapse, and eventually bankruptcy, I couldn't see a time of restoration and financial peace that was coming.
After twelve years of infertility with my wife, I could not see the four hurting siblings God had waiting for us to become their parents.
While in the forest of trying to raise four kids from hard places, I couldn't see the plan and callings God had on their lives. But now I do.
Every single one of those seasons felt like an ending. None of them were.
We want results quickly. That's the culture we were raised in. But God rarely works in real time. He works over time. The biblical pattern isn't promise then instant fulfillment. It's promise, then a long confusing middle, then a fulfillment that often looks different than you expected.
The white spaces between the verses are where most of life actually happens. They're where faith gets built — not in the highlights, but in the waiting.
Whatever stage you're in right now, it's likely the middle, not the ending. Stay strong. Keep moving forward. God hasn't forgotten you. He has a plan and a purpose. And He's been working in the white spaces all along.