February 2: When His Reason Came Back
“Restore us to sanity.” Maybe that phrase stings. You’re not crazy. Or are you?
“And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:”
Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king in the world. He looked out over Babylon and congratulated himself on building it all by his own might. Then he lost his mind. For a season he lived like an animal in the fields, eating grass, his hair grown wild.
At the end of that time, he says, he lifted his eyes to heaven, and his understanding returned to him. And the first thing he did with his restored mind was praise God.
Look at the order. He looked up. Then his reason came back.
The word “sanity” in Step Two isn’t an insult. It doesn’t mean you belong in a hospital. It means something simpler. Sane thinking is thinking that matches reality. And when it comes to alcohol, your thinking has not matched reality for a while.
Think about it. You’ve seen what drinking does. You’ve lived the mornings after. You know where the first drink leads. And yet, again and again, you’ve picked it up, sincerely believing this time would be different. That’s not a lack of intelligence. Smart people do it every day. It’s a blind spot about alcohol in particular, and no amount of brains seems to fix it.
That’s what Step Two is about. Not your whole mind. The part of it that keeps going back to the drink. The step says a Power greater than yourself can restore that part. Make it see straight again.
Nebuchadnezzar’s problem was pride. He thought he’d done it all himself. His healing began when he looked beyond himself. For many drinkers, the story is similar. As long as we insisted on handling it alone, our thinking stayed bent. When we looked up, things began to straighten.
You don’t have to fully understand how it works. Just be willing to look up.
One thing today
Write down one way your thinking about alcohol has not matched reality. Then pray for God to straighten that one thing.
A prayer
God, my thinking about drinking has been bent for a long time. I lift my eyes to You. Restore my mind where it’s gone wrong.
Read more about Step Two.
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