January 30: Wait for the Lord

You’ve been trying for weeks. Why don’t you feel better yet?

David ends this psalm with an instruction he gives twice. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.

He says it twice because waiting is hard. Nobody needs to be told twice to do something easy.

Early sobriety is full of waiting. Waiting for the cravings to ease. Waiting for sleep to come back. Waiting for your spouse to trust you again. Waiting for your head to clear. Waiting for the shame to fade. Waiting for things to make sense.

The drinking life was built around instant relief. Feel bad, pour a drink, feel different in twenty minutes. Sobriety doesn’t work that fast. It’s more like healing from a broken bone. The cast comes off weeks after the break, and even then the muscle needs time to rebuild.

That can be discouraging. You might think, “I’m doing everything right and still feel lousy.” Or worse, “If this is sober, maybe drinking was better.” That thought is the old way talking. It wants instant results because it always got them.

Notice that David connects waiting with strength and courage. Waiting isn’t passive. It takes guts to keep showing up when you can’t see results yet. It takes strength to go to one more meeting, make one more call, pray one more prayer, when nothing seems to be changing.

But things are changing. Often they change underneath before they change on top. Your body is healing. Your brain is slowly resetting. Relationships are watching to see if this lasts. Many people say that somewhere around the third month, they suddenly noticed they’d gone a whole afternoon without thinking about a drink.

Step One isn’t finished in a day either. Each sober day you look at your life a little more honestly. That’s the work. Keep waiting, keep doing the next right thing, and let God set the pace.

One thing today

Write down one thing that is slightly better than it was a month ago. Then write down one thing you’re still waiting on. Pray about both.

A prayer

Lord, I’m impatient. I want this to be fixed already. Give me courage to keep going while I wait, and help me trust that You are working even when I can’t see it.

Keep at Step One, one day at a time.

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