On Sunday, I decided to take a few weeks and give up coffee—all caffeine, actually. A friend at church actually begged to buy me a cup of coffee because he thought I looked horrible. Apparently I’m more addicted to coffee than I might care to admit.
That manifest itself further on Sunday night when I got a horrible headache. I felt like I was dehydrated—though I’d never been more hydrated. And that headache turned into nausea that built and built.
The ordeal climaxed with my head in the toilet, as solids and liquids streamed from my throat. Between heaves, I called to my wife through the bathroom door to reassure her I was fine. She was skeptical. But I eventually emerged and was ready to go to sleep—hoping the next day of caffeine withdrawals wouldn’t be quite so traumatic.
Isn’t it funny that doing something healthy left me in a place that felt anything but healthy? By taking a break from caffeine, I’m detoxing it from my system and learning to not be so dependent on it. By making the decision I’ve already done the good thing I need to do. Unfortunately, whenever you do the right thing, you don’t always see results until quite some time after.
It reminds me of a verse in the Bible: For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (Hebrews 10:36)
Doing the right thing—following the will of God for your life—doesn’t always immediately reap benefits in our lives. Sometimes we feel miserable when we do the right thing. But you can’t look at your present circumstances and think that’s all there is. There are good things coming when we make good decisions in our lives. Be faithful. Persevere.
And wait for the caffeine withdrawal to subside.
