This week is my anniversary of sobriety. After 16 years of constant sobriety some things look different, and others are very much the same. A deep acceptance of my inability to drink alcohol is the thing that has remained steady. That acceptance of my alcoholism is what gave me the desire to get sober. It is the thing that also keeps me on the right path today.
The thing that has changed is my gratitude for the truth
that God has taken a terrible suffering and used it for His good. The idea
that I have a physical malady as well as a spiritual weakness is truer now than
ever. If I follow God’s guidelines to keep myself physically well, the
spiritual weakness remains overpowered. I like to call it disarmed. God
has deemed the alcoholism eternally beaten. I used to see myself as a victim of
alcoholism. Now I see the past alcoholism as a point of strength from which I
can grow spiritually. I can trust God. I can trust others. I can trust me.
I am not afraid of alcoholism
anymore, but I must remain vigilant.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor. 12: 10
