Walk Before You Run

Walk Before You Run

In life there’s a common piece of advice: learn to walk before you run. This is a theme echoed in our approach to addiction and recovery at Hope for Addiction UK. We often speak of direction over speed. In the early days of recovery, we encourage people to focus on building clean time, gaining stability, and dealing with small matters before moving on to bigger issues. Small victories matter. They form a foundation for long-term change, which is why we often encourage people, where possible, to hold off on major life-changing decisions during the first year of recovery.

Even with this advice in place, many people feel a strong urge to run rather than walk. This can lead to putting the cart before the horse in recovery, which is understandable, even if it is not always wise. Early recovery often brings enthusiasm and hope. Small wins can feel huge, and it is easy to believe that major change is just around the corner.

While the Bible does speak of running and the urgency of the gospel, it also speaks often of walking. With that in mind, the following ideas from Scripture may help shape our understanding of what it means to walk with the Lord. Each of the verses referenced speaks directly about this walk.

Walking With God Is a Way of Life

The Bible presents walking with the Lord as a way of life, lived over time rather than achieved all at once. Enoch and Noah are recognised for this kind of walk (Genesis 5:22, 24; 6:9), and Abraham was called to walk faithfully with God throughout his life (Genesis 12; 17:1).

When we look closely at these examples, it is reassuring to see that their walk was not perfect, but consistent. Again and again, they turned back to God, sometimes after periods of drift. Walking with the Lord also involves integrity (Proverbs 10:9), humility (Isaiah 38:15; Daniel 4:37), and learning to think differently (Proverbs 9:6). These qualities shape every area of life, and they develop slowly over time. You cannot become this kind of person overnight.

In the New Testament, this idea of walking as a Spirit-empowered way of life is repeated often (John 12:35; Galatians 5:16; Colossians 3:7; 1 John 1:6–7).

Character Before Big Change

At one level, this may feel like a tall order. In many ways, shaping character is harder than clearing up the practical mess left behind by addiction. Yet this perspective can steady those who feel pressured to make rapid, dramatic, big changes.

Walking faithfully with God begins small and grows over time (Matthew 25:23). Embracing humility, integrity and a new way of thinking takes place in everyday choices long before it addresses the big-ticket items of life. A lifelong walk allows room for God’s timing and care, if we are willing to resist taking control and rushing the process.

Walking with the Lord is therefore about forming character over the long haul, not simply managing the chaos of addiction. Scripture presents this as a deeper and more lasting approach to change.

Walking in Love, Fear and Truth

At the heart of this walk is love. To walk with God is to walk in love, and love shapes every meaningful change in life. Loving the Lord first, means loving His ways, including the way of obedience (Joshua 2:25).

Love for God also includes reverence and fear of the Lord, another mark of walking with Him (Deuteronomy 10:12; Nehemiah 5:9). This kind of fear nurtures a desire to live God’s way, even when progress is slow and only small steps are possible. This stands in sharp contrast to addiction, which is often marked by a lack of regard for God and His ways.

Love and truth belong together, and so walking with the Lord also means walking in truth (Psalm 15:2). For those who have lived in the lies that often accompany addiction, this is usually a gradual process. The New Testament echoes this same pattern of walking in love, fear, and truth (Ephesians 4:2; 2 John 1:6; 2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:3–4).

Walking Through Trouble, Not Avoiding It

As character grows, we become better equipped to walk through difficulty rather than trying to escape it. Instead of making snap decisions or resorting to impulsive solutions, we learn to stay present and learn from trouble.

Scripture repeatedly points us in this direction (Psalm 23:4; 138:7). While some changes in recovery do need to be made quickly and decisively, much of life involves learning to live faithfully within reality. This often means facing hardship rather than avoiding it, something addiction frequently taught us to do.

Walking With God Is Worth It

One motivation for walking with God is His presence. Walking with God means we do not walk alone. Just as you are aware of a companion when walking with a friend, God’s presence accompanies those who walk with Him, even when He feels unseen.

God’s nearness to Israel was one of the great outcomes of their rescue and the reason they could walk with dignity. For those who have spent years walking alone in addiction, often weighed down by shame, these words from Leviticus offer hope (Leviticus 26:12–13).

Another motivation is the link Scripture makes between walking with God and prospering in life. This can sound surprising, given how rarely addiction and prosperity coexist. While some may function outwardly with material success, addiction usually brings spiritual, relational, and financial loss.

The Bible speaks of God’s blessing for those who walk with Him, but this blessing is broader than material wealth. It includes stability, endurance, and the ability to live well over time. These promises appear in contexts of struggle and temptation, reminding us that they are meant to encourage faithfulness in hard circumstances (Deuteronomy 5:33; 19:9; 1 Kings 2:3–4; 11:38; 2 Chronicles 6:16; Proverbs 2:7; Jeremiah 7:23).

In recovery, signs of this blessing may be modest but meaningful. Prosperity might look like financial stability rather than surplus. Long life may mean improved health after years of damage. An enduring legacy may simply be the ability to pass on something good, rather than leaving behind pain or regret.

Another motivation for walking with God is that it leads to life. Scripture connects this walk with spiritual awareness and rest for weary souls (Psalm 56:13; Jeremiah 6:16). These are things addiction cannot provide. Instead, addiction is often marked by restlessness, irritation, and exhaustion—both physical and mental.

Starting and Continuing the Walk

Without the discipline of walking with the Lord, life becomes exposed and fragile, like a city without walls (Proverbs 25:28). Walking with God brings protection (Isaiah 43:2). There is a natural safeguarding that comes from living according to God’s ways, alongside the deeper spiritual protection offered through the gospel.

All of these themes find their fulfilment in the New Testament as they point us to Christ and the hope of new creation (John 8:12; Revelation 21:24).

If you are considering change in your life, begin by walking before running. If you are wondering how to start and continue walking with the Lord, Scripture points us to three helpful guides. First, consider the example of others who have walked faithfully over time (Judges 2:22; 2 Corinthians 12:18). Their steady progress speaks more clearly than rapid change.

Second, hold on to the promises of God, which often require patience and waiting (Isaiah 26:8). Finally, remember the value of walking with God when progress feels slow or when temptation arises to take shortcuts. This perspective steadies us when our plans are frustrated and reminds us that faithfulness matters more than appearances.

Recovery is not about speed. It is about faithfulness—one step at a time.

As Proverbs reminds us: “Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse” (Proverbs 28:6).